


April Showers Bring May Flowers

by RJ_Niner



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Multi, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10528875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RJ_Niner/pseuds/RJ_Niner
Summary: The Seasonal Alliance is a secret organization that controls the flow of the four seasons and work to keep the world in balance. This year though, Winter has decided to kidnap Rin, the sun of Spring, as an April Fools' Day prank. The catch? They've refused to give Rin back. The threat of an eternal winter throws the seasons into turmoil as they try to get back the warmth of spring, but surprisingly, this chaos might just be what everyone needs to learn a little more about themselves. Mild mild cursing.





	1. Chapter 1

_April 1 – 8 a.m. – Winter Base_

Kaito awoke with a groan, kicking at the tangled blankets around him with little success. Everything was hot, too hot. His blankets were clinging to his sweat-stained skin, sticking to him like a cocoon. He fought with his covers for a while, still half-asleep, struggling to find the edges in order to plot his escape. Even when he did wrench himself from the grips of his humid blankets though, something still wasn't quite right.

Kaito sat there at the edge of his bed for a while, eyes closed and tongue stuck out like a kid to taste the air. It was humid, humidly hot and sickening to the taste, pressing down on him like heat waves threatening to melt him into a puddle...

Wait, a puddle?

Kaito's eyes snapped open to look down at himself. His eyes bulged at the sight of his casual clothes now hanging loosely off his body, the collar of his shirt gapingly large on his tiny shoulders. Kaito could barely see the tips of his toes poking out from underneath the scrunched up folds at the end of his now oversized sweats, but that didn't stop him from leaping off his bed, racing towards the door shrieking, "WHO TURNED ON THE HEATER?"

He tripped over his pants before he could reach the door, his cries of pain echoing loudly throughout the base. Luo Tianyi found him just like that, flat on his stomach, feet kicking at the air with his face pressed into the carpeted floor. It was a pitiful sight, seeing the leader of Team Winter reduced to the form of a tantrum throwing child, but in the four years Tianyi had worked for Kaito, she'd pretty much gotten used to it by now.

"Honestly, is this something worth crying over?" Tianyi sighed, crouching down to pet Kaito's head, his bedhead sticking out in all directions.

"If this is an April Fool's joke, it's not funny!" Kaito sniffled, kicking at the floor even harder.

"I'm sure no one would ever dare to prank you," Tianyi laughed, an image forming in her head of an embarrassed red-faced Kaito. The image of him embarrassed wasn't as funny as the implication that Kaito's embarrassment and subsequent overflow of anger would most definitely cause a giant snowstorm. Oh, how she'd love having fun sending the storm all over just to wreck havoc, but alas, with spring here, she'd have to wait another for her fun.

Kaito very obviously took no heed of Tianyi's shallow comfort, continuing on with his muffled whining, if only for his self-satisfaction. "It's too hot in here! It's too hot!"

Tianyi paused in the middle of a yawn, realizing that Kaito was right. She hadn't noticed at first, too preoccupied by the cries that had roused her from her beloved sleep, but it was strangely warm inside the base, which usually averaged a temperature of 5 to 15 degrees Celsius. At the moment, the temperature might've at least been an average air temperature for a normal human to live in, which for Team Winter, translated back as warm, maybe borderline hot. Not that the warmer temperature actually affected her, but for Kaito, who represented the snow and storms of winter, warmth killed. Just as snow melted with heat, Kaito melted too, back into the form of a temperamental brat.

"Okay, okay, stop crying!" Tianyi said, grabbing Kaito's arms and pulling him up onto his two feet. "I'll go check what's wrong with the heater, so go hide in the freezer for now or something."

"Why can't we get rid of the heating system all together?" Kaito grumbled, grabbing his blue scarf and wrapping it around his skinny neck a few times before plodding along after Tianyi. "Then we won't ever have this problem again!"

"Because someone new just moved in, remember?" Tianyi answered, entering the kitchen and flinging open the freezer. "He's not used to the cold yet, so just stay in here until you're back to normal."

Kaito just glared back at Tianyi and stuck his tongue out her before getting into the freezer. Currently, the only thing inside was ice cream, leaving enough space for the kid-sized Kaito to return back to his adult form once he was cold enough. Tianyi shut the freezer with a sigh once Kaito got comfortable enough with an ice cream bar in his mouth before heading off to check on the AC system.

Her brow only furrowed deeper at the sight. The system was currently set to 0 degrees. It was supposedly colder than normal, so why in the world was it still so warm?

"What's the matter?"

Tianyi turned to see Oliver peering out from his room, fully dressed with his blonde curls sticking up off his head, yet still matted down enough to cover his currently bandaged left eye. As usual, that yellow goldfinch Oliver called James was sitting precariously on the shoulder of Oliver's sailor suit as he walked over.

"Well, it's really warm in here, right? But apparently the AC is working, so I can't figure out why it's so warm," Tianyi replied, still studying the screen with a confused expression.

"Maybe it's just because it's springtime now?" Oliver suggested, moving to open the shades over the window before his mouth promptly fell open.

The sight outside left even Tianyi, the most collected of people, speechless. It wasn't much, but the tiny white particles floating outside was most definitely snow. Snow that definitely shouldn't have existed on the first of April when it'd been so warm just the day before.

"Kaito, what did you do?" Tianyi shouted, pulling open the freezer door to reveal a now adult-sized Kaito finishing up the last bits of his ice cream.

"Do what?" Kaito echoed, confused as he stepped out, shaking out the crystals that'd formed in his hair, now feeling more rejuvenated than ever.

Tianyi pointed outside with an accusing expression on her face. Kaito's eyes followed the direction her finger was pointing in out the window, expressionless as his deep blue eyes reflected the sight of gently falling snow.

"Oh," was all Kaito said, just as the telephone began to ring. Kaito sighed, knowing what was coming. He picked up the receiver, holding it far away from his ear as the person on the other end shouted, "What's the meaning of this, Kaito?"

"Sorry, I just panicked when I woke up this morning, that's all," Kaito said, chewing on the end of ice cream stick. "It was really warm in the base for some reason."

"Don't give me that bullshit. What the hell are you up to now?" Luka hissed, her words causing Kaito to frown. The entire time Kaito had known her, Luka never cursed, never even said a word that resembled a curse word. The fact that she just did was a bad sign. A bad, bad sign.

"I honestly don't know what you're saying. You're calling because I accidently caused it to snow outside, right? Though aren't you supposed to prevent that? What's your sun doing if she can't melt a little snow before it falls?" Kaito shot back, careful to keep his tone from getting too hostile.

"The sun you're talking about has been kidnapped," Luka said, her tone oozing with venom. "And from the note we found, you apparently thought this was a funny April Fool's prank to play on us even though you of all people should've known better, so stop playing dumb and give Rin back!"

Kaito winced at the loud crackle over the transmission as Luka hung up. He carefully set the handset back onto the phone set, rubbing one ear before turning to fix his two teammates with a questioning look. He asked, "Did either of you happen to kidnap a sun?"

"Huh?" Tianyi's eyes narrowed in confusion, sharing a look with Oliver before staring back at Kaito like he was crazy.

"Hmmm… Well if what Luka's saying is true, Rin must've been kidnapped and brought here, which _would_ explain why it's so warm in here, and I didn't do it, and I trust the two of you wouldn't ever be crazy enough to do so, so the only one who could do that would be…" Kaito trailed off as the answer struck him. His teeth suddenly gnashed down on the wooden stick in his mouth, cracking it in half as anger once again took hold of the man.

"MIIIIIIKUUUUOOOOOOO!" Kaito shouted, storming away to the farthest room down the hall. While Oliver and Tianyi watched in amazement as Kaito's figure once again began to shrink the closer he got, Kaito flung upon the bedroom door of the newest recruit, his glare ready to kill.

A gush of hot air exploded from the doorframe, burning Kaito's skin as he tried to shield himself from the heat that escaped from the room within. By the time everything had calmed down, Kaito was left once again in the form of a child, this time even younger looking than he'd been when he'd woken up. One look revealed Rin lying serenely on the bed, fast asleep and dressed in a petite spring outfit without a hair out of place. There was a serene, gentle glow about her, fitting for the one who represented the spring sun, a scene that would've calmed even the wildest of hearts if not for the sight of the newest recruit standing beside the bed, frozen in his spot as he stared down at Kaito with a shocked look. Whether it was shock from having his prank exposed, or shock from seeing Kaito as a kid, Kaito didn't bother to find out as he glared up at the boy's vividly blue eyes framed by his turquoise bangs.

"Want to explain yourself, Hatsune?" Kaito hissed.

Mikuo could only crack a nervous smile as he weakly quipped, "Happy April Fool's Day?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY APRIL FOOLS' DAY!
> 
> Anyways, here's a random story that I'll update throughout the spring accordingly to the plot of the story, though since I'm still working on it, I apologize in advance if the dates in real life don't always quite match the dates in the story. I guess this celebrates what hopefully will be spring, and of course, April Fool's Day. Because I'm perhaps too nice to prank people in reality. XP
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

_April 1 – 10:30 a.m. – Seasonal Alliance Headquarters – Hallways_

V-Flower was feeling very confused as she wandered the hallways of headquarters. And rightly so, considering that no one had bothered to explain what was going on to her. They were too busy running about headquarters, leaving behind trails of nature in their wake as they shouted and paced and made phone call after phone call to Team Winter's leader, Kaito, to "get his frozen ice cream butt" over to headquarters, whatever that was supposed to mean.

While they waited for Team Winter to arrive, Luka had given the team (or rather duo, now that Rin was gone) the freedom to wander around. Explore. Be anywhere away from when Luka would bash Kaito's head in once he arrived. V-Flower was happy to take the offer. She'd had so little free time since spring started, working to analyze all the plants and flowers and figuring out when and how to make them bloom. Free time was the greatest thing anyone could've given her, even if it was at Rin's expense, even if free time with Piko was…

"Weird?"

V-Flower gave a start, glancing over at the silver-haired boy next to her. Piko wore a knowing smile on his face as he voiced aloud the younger girl's thoughts. Seeing V-Flower's still stupefied expression, he added, "That's what you were thinking, right?"

"Yes, but I'm sorry, that was really rude, wasn't it?" V-Flower hastily apologized, a little embarrassed that her thoughts had been so easily read.

"Well, yeah but I'm not offended," Piko supplied with a yawn. "Besides, I get it if you don't want to relax while Rin is gone, but you might as well enjoy it."

V-Flower didn't feel reassured by how lightly Piko was making of the situation. The boy might have been on the job longer than her, but he was small in stature, petite and almost girly with his dreamy ( _dreamy?_ ) heterochromatic eyes and silky silver hair. V-Flower hadn't had too many chances to interact with Piko before today, mainly because she was too busy learning all she could about the job from Luka in preparation for the spring before this—

"Disaster?" Piko supplied as the word came to mind.

V-Flower stared at Piko for another moment or two before saying, "Can you read minds?"

"No," Piko simply shrugged, running a hand casually through his hair. "Just good at guessing. Perceptive I guess is what you call it. Of course, it's sorta a job requirement, so if I couldn't do as much as guess what you're thinking, I wouldn't even be qualified to be here."

V-Flower must have had a very confused expression on her face because Piko let out a quick laugh and said, "I don't blame you for not getting how all this works, seeing how you literally got thrown into this job before even understanding what you're part of. It took me a while to understand it all, so want me to explain?"

"I don't really have a choice though, do I?" V-Flower dryly replied, noting the empty hallways that left the two of them alone with not much to do. Piko simply returned the remark with a small smirk before leading V-Flower down the halls.

"So, quick tour of the place," Piko said in a rather official tone, almost as if he was too easily humored by himself. "Back there where Luka left us was the conference room where the team leaders usually meet to discuss stuff. Usually nothing serious, though today's an exception with all this snow going on. Mostly Kaito's fault, since he's so emotionally vulnerable, but that's a different story."

They stepped forward into the front lobby where Piko paused before a large mural painted on one side of the lobby, right across from the front entrance to the building, which, last time V-Flower checked, led to the now chilly streets of New York City. The door, as she'd discovered, had a bad habit of changing destinations right when you least expected it.

The mural was impressive in its own right. V-Flower had studied it a few times, but never to closely. Painted on the wall were four women with young, flawless skin and beautiful faces, goddesses perhaps, each a different color. From what she could tell, it was just a mural of—

"The four seasons," Piko finished for her, not even bothering to comment on her once again shocked expression. "Now, we as the Seasonal Alliance are in charge of controlling the four seasons on Earth, split into four teams, one for each season. No one's really sure how the Seasonal Alliance actually came into existence, but it's a mystery no one's really been bothered to solve. More importantly though, each season has four main jobs that need to be accomplished to create a relatively successful season. For spring and summer, it's pretty much summed up into four parts of each season: the sun, water and nature, which is usually split up into two categories of some combination of flowers, animals, plants, etcetera. Winter of course has snow instead of the sun to take care of, along with an additional category for wind. Then you have Team Autumn, mainly just a bunch of laid back characters who surprisingly do their job so well they have time to mess with abstract things like school spirit."

Piko took a moment to grumble about someone named Kiyoteru, whom V-Flower guessed was the person in charge of this so-called school spirit. V-Flower hadn't had the chance to meet anyone from Team Autumn yet, since they were all busy working in the Southern Hemisphere, with the exception of Meiko who'd come back specifically to see to the issue that'd sprung up all over the North. Seeing as Piko was still busy complaining about the memory of going to school, V-Flower cut in and began, "I understand why Team Autumn's not here, but then—"

"Why isn't most of Team Summer here? Well, they still have preparations to do for summer, so I'm assuming other than Miku, they're all busy making schedules and whatnot. Gumi and Lily share the same jobs as you and Luka do, so I doubt they'd be much help anyways, and Len… he, well…"

The corners of Piko's mouth drooped ever so slightly but by the time V-Flower blinked, his smile had returned brighter than ever when he laughed, "He's probably too shocked about his sister's disappearance to do anything right now."

V-Flower bobbed her head in understanding. She had met Len briefly before, an extremely cheerful and young guy with brilliantly golden hair and blue eyes, the spitting image of a perfectly clear summer day. Despite his look of perfection though, V-Flower had heard plenty of rumors of his excessive love for his sister, a full-blown sister complex so to say. V-Flower hadn't necessarily seen Len with his sister together to know if it were true, but seeing that even Luka was exasperated by that fact, she chose to believe it.

"Anyways, that's what we're all here for, to control the seasons," Piko cut in, moving back to the topic on hand. "I'm sure Luka has told you plenty of times, but we're basically in charge of planning out our roles in our respective seasons. As for how we're chosen, no one knows the specifics either, but we think it has to do with our personality. I'm good at figuring people out just like a water's reflection, Luka's motherly instincts and her usually well-tempered personality makes her great for dealing with newborn animals, and Rin's happy optimism makes her a warm sun for spring. And as for your job in overseeing the blossoming of nature, it's probably because…"

Piko trailed off, suddenly reluctant to speak his mind as he stared back at V-Flower's inquisitive gaze, her purple eyes ever so dull like her expressionless face and yet strangely pretty under the dimly lit lobby. For some reason, it left a warm, fuzzy feeling deep in the pit of his stomach, a reluctantly happy feeling that made Piko wonder if just this once, he could trust those pensive eyes with his troubles. It was almost enough to make him forget his crush and the subsequent guilt that was close to crushing him.

Seeing Piko's loss for words, V-Flower simply assumed he was having trouble spitting his words out because V-Flower, like always, was just too plain, too dull to ever fit the job that was given her. Even now she was half-convinced that the world was playing a joke on her by giving her this job. She'd only just successfully run away from home for the third time when the offer arrived in the form of a letter with golden scripted delivered by a flower that had suddenly sprouted from her backpack. It had all occurred so suddenly and bizarrely that V-Flower had accepted the offer without too much thought as to what it might even mean.

To curb the awkward silence that had fallen around them, V-Flower offered the answer to Piko's half-finished sentence. "Well, Luka told me it was because something about my personality is delicate and sincere like a flower, or something like that."

"Beautiful too," Piko muttered under his breath.

"You say something?" V-Flower asked, Piko's words escaping her ears. When Piko vehemently shook his head, she just raised an eyebrow and continued, "Well, it could just be because my name has 'flower' in it."

Piko let out a quiet chuckle, which surprised V-Flower. She wasn't funny, what she said wasn't funny either, so either Piko had a weird sense of humor, or he was mocking her.

"Definitely not mocking you," Piko quickly said, sobering up. V-Flower frowned, this time because Piko's words meant he had found her funny in the good way. Which was weird.

"Anyways, before we get too off topic," Piko continued, "that's the basics of how the Seasonal Alliance work. We each work for a separate season and regulate the particular aspect of the season that we're assigned with while taking on some of the properties of our job."

"Like you leaving water droplets all over the place where you walk," V-Flower commented, noting the trail of water Piko had left behind on the floor.

"Miku does it too," Piko weakly retorted. "She just has better control over it. Besides, I caught you picking up flower petals off the ground during breakfast."

"It's not as noticeable as you. Anyone looking for you would just have to find water trails all over the floor first," V-Flower retorted back with a soft snicker. She immediately put her hand over her mouth, surprised at her casual behavior, especially towards Piko. She was never one to be casual with others, much less tease them. She'd been a poker face for as long as she could remember, and she couldn't think of any reason why she might begin acting otherwise now.

"Why do you look so shocked about having fun?" Piko said, a light teasing tone in his voice.

V-Flower couldn't think of a very good response, so she went with "It was disrespectful, since you're my senior."

"Pfft," Piko snorted, shaking his head so his silver locks shook through the air, glistening under the fluorescent lighting of the lobby. "Don't be. We're all equals here. And besides… I don't deserve your respect."

V-Flower thought about asking why, but one look at Piko's expression told her she was better off leaving the question for later. Piko might've been a master at reading others, but his expression showed on his face like watercolors flooding a blank sheet of paper. V-Flower could tell Piko was struggling to hide it, but his eyes betrayed a sadness she couldn't figure out, the glow in his mismatching eyes dulling as they flitted downwards nervously.

In an attempt to dispel the awkward atmosphere that'd fallen around them, V-Flower spoke up, "So I understand that there's different jobs in each of the teams, but what does that have—"

"To do with Rin being kidnapped?" Piko interjected, rebounding to his previously carefree demeanor. "Well, not much. Just without her, we have no way to provide the warmth of spring, and with the cold temperatures, it'll be harder for nature to grow and for animals to live in the area, and especially considering Kaito's emotional instability which creates snow the moment he's not in a good mood, we'll be in for an extremely cold spring that might never recover in time for summer."

The thought took a while to process, so after V-Flower had finished pondering it, she repeated, "So in other words, if we don't get Rin back in time, we're screwed."

"Something like that," Piko laughed, staring up at the mural, eyes lingering on the goddess of spring, painted with the warm color of blooming flowers, bubbling springs and budding leaves. She radiated like the sun, one hand resting gently on the head of a fawn, her dress billowing out into flowing water. But what Piko was left staring at was her other outstretched hand, vines tangled around it with small, white flowers with streaks of purple on their petals, a color that perfectly matched V-Flower's white hair, with that dark purple streak in her ponytail. He wondered if someday soon, those flowers would grow, like the mural did, matching the growth of those who represented each element and bloom radiantly to its full potential. He wondered if maybe those still budding flowers had the potential to reach down and touch the pool of water at the goddess's feet, touch his heart and save him from drowning in himself.

But before he could wonder anymore, the lobby door flew open, a cold chill running through the room that made both Piko and V-Flower jump. They turned to find a small child hastily walking straight towards them, shivering as he wrapped his blue scarf tighter around his neck.

"Kaito, is that you?" Piko slowly asked, confused at the sight of the man in a child form, snowflakes lingering in his blue hair as he hastily brushed the rest off his shoulders.

"It's nothing to stare at," came a mature voice that didn't fit the childish look on Kaito's face. It took a moment for V-Flower to realize it was partially directed at her, but by then Kaito had leapt up onto the counter in the front lobby, arms supporting his tiny body as legs dangled in the air while he signed in. It was another one of those weird rules, this rule of signing in at Headquarters, that no one knew where it'd come from, but one that was followed without a fail.

As Kaito struggled to finish writing his name in the log book, his arms shaking from holding up his weight, Piko sighed and went over to Kaito, lifting him up from the waist.

"Thanks," Kaito huffed, finishing and pushing himself out of Piko's arms. "But it wasn't necessary."

"No need to be a kid about it," Piko shot back, brushing off the cold water dotting his arms before suddenly freezing, staring at the water droplets in confusion. His head shot up and accused, "Your body temperature's warmer than usual."

"What do you think I'm here for?" Kaito shot back with a glare. "Rin's stuck in my base, my _home_ , everyone's now going to blame me for it, and now I can't even stay at home without looking like this!"

With a wave of his hand, a small flurry of snow surrounded Kaito. V-Flower watched in amazement as Kaito's form began to change with a shiver of his body, the snow falling harsher around him until he straightened up again, back to his full height, revealing a handsome, young man with a harshly cold look in his eyes, his white coat with blue trims magically elongating to its full length, his blue scarf rippling in the snowstorm around the leader of Team Winter.

"Of course I'm pissed!" Kaito continued, tossing one end of his scarf behind him before storming off through the halls, towards the conference room, his footsteps echoing behind him. "And I'm not going to take anyone's shit about it!"


	3. Chapter 3

_April 1 – 12:00 p.m. – Seasonal Alliance Headquarters – Conference Room_

Of course, Kaito being Kaito, his threats never held much substance. He was the representative of snow after all, and just like snow, Kaito did what snow did best, no matter how hard it fell.

He began to melt.

Chaos had reigned the conference room ever since Kaito arrived, a miniature snowstorm whirling around him to keep off the heat as cold as he felt. That was the one drawback from being the snow of winter, having to stay cold all the time no matter how much he longed for warmth, but the cold was the last thing on his mind right now as he sat across Miku, the meticulous leader of the eternally cheerful summer ruled by an eternally miserable bunch. Watching Kaito sitting there across from her, huddled underneath that tiny snow cloud with his signature blue scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and a cup of ice cream shaking in his pale hands, Miku was only reminded even more of how she'd found the earth submerged once again in a thick layer of white snow, and it did nothing but piss Miku off.

"Do you know what the hell you have done, Kaito?" she shouted across the table, glaring daggers at the blue-haired man cowering in his seat.

"L-like I said, it wasn't me. It was that brother of yours," Kaito stammered back, nervously taking a bite of his ice cream.

"But you're the one who caused all that snow, right?" Meiko calmly supplied before Miku could supply a response, wrenching Kaito's ice cream out of reach.

Kaito sunk deeper into his seat and muttered, "That was only because I was shocked and angry at them when I realized what they did."

"And you're not angry now?" Miku hissed, glaring daggers at Kaito.

"Not as much? At least enough so that it's still snowing?" Kaito said with a whimper, cowering down even further. Miku could really be scary despite her control over the summer sun. The leader of Team Summer had never been one to accommodate for mishaps and jokes. So much for summer as the so-called season of fun.

Before Miku could let out another attack at Kaito, Luka cut in, trying to calm the girl down in her usual motherly voice. "Miku, if you keep going on like that, Kaito's going to melt."

"A little sun wouldn't even be nearly enough to melt that bastard's icy heart," Miku shot back, turning her glare onto Luka.

"Not literally," Luka said, rolling her eyes at Miku's simplicity. "Melt as in he's going to have a meltdown."

One look over at Kaito was enough to prove her words true. Despite his grown-up appearance, the man already looked to be on the verge of tears after the shock of getting beaten down by Miku and not having his ice cream to support him. He'd slumped down all the way in his seat, his head just barely visible over the table, his face nearly buried deep in the blue scarf that was always around his neck. Miku supposed she felt a little bit guilty about sending Kaito into that state, especially since sending Kaito into emotional distress probably meant more snow falling over the earth.

Before Miku could think of a way to cheer Kaito up though, Meiko let out a sigh and placed Kaito's ice cream back in front of him, immediately rejuvenating the blue-haired man. He leapt at it, devouring it eagerly despite still sniffling once in a while.

Miku and Luka both sighed at the sight. They all should've been used to it by now, seeing Kaito so easily bouncing between moods when either ice cream or his girlfriend where involved, yet it was always quite amazing to see each time. Seeing Kaito's good mood suddenly reminded Miku of the bad mood she was supposed to be in. Letting out a low grumble, Miku turned to Luka and asked, "Now that he's all better, may I go back to hating his guts?"

Luka had to sigh as she gave a defeated smile and said, "Go for it."

As Miku went back to yelling Kaito, who was still head over heels in joy after being pampered by Meiko who looked like she was regretting it, Luka leaned back in her seat with a sigh. They'd been at this argument for the past hour, an argument that was going nowhere because Miku was too angry and Kaito was too scared and Meiko was too tired of this shit. Which left Luka, who had always been terrible at getting people to stay in line when she wasn't angry enough. It made her awfully grateful that Team Spring was filled with a generally amiable bunch. Rin could be a bit too friendly, Piko a bit too shallow, and V-Flower a bit too unexpressive, but all in all they were a great group of youngsters. Not at all like this group of four leaders of the Seasonal Alliance who just refused to get along with each other. True, they each represented a different season so they ought to have different personalities, but once in a while, Luka wouldn't have minded if they worked together, especially considering the situation they were in.

Sighing again, Luka leaned back in her seat. She was sitting in the main seat today, her seat slightly elevated from the floor where she sat at the round table, decorated with wooden carved flowers lining the back of the seat. The old wall clock hung above Luka's head, leaving Luka no choice but to lean her head back too to stare at the clock, putting her in what probably was an unsightly position that everyone was too angry to notice. She watched the minute hand ticked forward five spots.

Five more minutes wasted for absolutely no reason.

"Okay, that's enough fighting!" Luka shouted, her voice thundering through the room. "Rin has been kidnapped and here we are doing nothing but yelling at each other about it. Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere, so can we just talk all these issues out and make a plan to deal with what's happened?"

Miku and Kaito promptly fell silent, their eyes awkwardly darting away from where Luka sat, fuming. Luka's anger had an eerie ability to make other's snap out of their anger and instead feel like a child caught doing something wrong. Miku had never meant to get into such a heated argument with Kaito, an argument that now felt childish once she realized how far off topic she'd gotten. She was just as angry as Luka was about this stupid prank that'd happened, but her natural disposition to antagonize Kaito, the leader of Team Winter, had been quick to cloud her ability to think straight.

"Sorry, Luka, we didn't mean to go off topic," Miku said.

"I know," Luka sighed, burying her face in her hands with a small groan. "It's just, everything was going perfectly yesterday, and now the world is ending just because of this so called prank."

"Technically, the world is not ending. By most, maybe another major ice age if we can't get Rin back in time to prep for summer, but nothing we couldn't fix once we got her back," came Kaito's quiet voice as he busily rearranged his blue scarf around his head, wrapping it up like a mummy's bandages. "Besides, today's April Fool's Day. It's the perfect day for pranks."

Before Miku could lose her temper again and put Kaito back in his place, luckily, Meiko was there to do Miku's "job" for her.

"Pranks aren't supposed to be taken seriously. They're things you can take back, things that you can take as a joke and apologize for later," Meiko scolded, yanking at one end of the scarf until it began to strangle Kaito's face, choking him until he yanked the scarf back down to breathe. Which also meant having to look Luka in the eye and trying not to feel guilty like a child who'd just failed his parents in every way possible.

"Kaito, I know you're busy avoiding the topic, but it's important that you cooperate with us," Luka said, her tone serious but carefully gentle. "I know I was angry at you earlier, but we need your help to solve this before it gets out of hand."

Kaito was silent for a long time before he muttered, "I wasn't avoiding the situation. I wanted to help too, but you're all trying to pin the blame on me."

"Are you saying it's our fault? Who's the one who kidnapped Rin?" Miku accused.

"Like I said, it's all your brother's fault!" Kaito whined, his face contorted into a baby-like pout. "He's the one who kidnapped Rin!"

Miku's eyes narrowed at the accusation directed at her brother again. "Mikuo wouldn't do something like that!" Miku shot back, straightening up to better glare down at Kaito.

"Why does no one believe me when I tell the truth?" Kaito groaned, rolling his eyes as he slumped back in his chair, sticking out his tongue to taste the snowflakes from his miniature, fake snowstorm.

"Because you have a history of being a pathological liar, remember?" Miku shouted, getting up to her feet in response. "Besides, I remember you being super opposed to my brother joining your team! You might hate him, but he's a responsible and caring person unlike you!"

Kaito's head snapped forward, his expression absolutely livid as snowflakes sizzled into water droplets upon contact with his face. Before he could leap forward to throw a blow at Miku, Meiko was on her feet just as quickly, her expression just as furious.

"Listen up, Miku. I'm fine with your stupid fights with Kaito every once in a while, but if you're going to use Kaito as an excuse to hide from the truth, that's going too far! You might think your brother is a little angel who can't do anything wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to throw Kaito under the bus by discrediting everything he says and does!" Meiko hissed, a cold gust of wind rushing through the room. Kaito was almost tempted to throw his own angry comment into the fray had he not been very aware of the shaking hand gripping Kaito's shoulder as if to hold him back from reacting to what Miku said. An angry Meiko was never a good sign, but what Kaito hated more than having his past insulted was having Meiko angry for his sake. Mainly because it made him feel loved, and thus unwilling to worsen the situation when Meiko was trying so hard to keep him out of trouble.

Meiko's anger had very obviously also kept Miku from speaking out any further. Seeing the conflicted look on Miku's face, Luka had to sigh. She knew better than anyone how much Miku loved to dote on her brother and how much she was willing to overlook his flaws here and there. The idea that it had been her brother who'd caused all this trouble only did more to build into the conflict that'd been gnawing Miku's mind ever since she'd allowed Mikuo to take the job.

"Ok, so, let's say Mikuo did it. Then why can't you control your subordinates? You're the team leader, aren't you?" Luka quickly said, covering up for Miku's hesitation and hoping to diffuse the tension again.

Kaito froze up at her words, once again sinking low into his seat. He muttered, "T-that good-for-nothing brat set up some stupid barrier so I can't get anywhere near her."

"You're stronger than they are," Luka pointed out, arms crossed. "A barrier like that should be a piece of cake for you to dismantle."

As Kaito sunk lower into his seat, his face scrunched up into a pout, Meiko sighed and rested a reassuring hand on her boyfriend. Patting him on the back, she said, "Come on, Kaito. Why haven't you gotten Rin back yet?"

Kaito mumbled something inaudible into his scarf as he tugged it up over his nose, his face red with embarrassment.

"Kaito," Meiko said threateningly, her eyes narrowing. "Get over your stupid pride and spit it out already."

Kaito gulped. He might have appeared to be a timid person, but in reality, there were only a few things he was truly afraid. The first being the cold, and the second, his girlfriend's anger when it was directed at him. Slowly, his mouth poked out from behind his blue scarf and in the quietest voice he could muster, he said, "The sun."

"What about the sun?" Miku hissed, not willing to waste any time playing riddles with Kaito.

Surprisingly, Kaito mustered a glare back at Miku and grumbled, "Think about it. I represent the snow of winter. How in the world am I supposed to get near enough to Rin to get her back without melting entirely first?"

The bluntness of the truth hit the other three, leaving them rather shocked by their complete ignorance and idiocy.

"Damn it, Mikuo!" Miku shouted, slamming her hands onto the table. She would've been tempted to go wring her dear brother's neck had she not had the slightest idea where he was. As much as she was loathe to believe it, Mikuo was the only one who was capable of kidnapping Rin now that she was reminded of Team Winter's fatal flaw: heat. Mikuo had been living a normal human life before getting the job in Team Winter just a few months ago, so he probably had no trouble interacting with Rin during this period of adjustment. What made things worse was that Team Winter was Team Winter because they hated the warmth. Add that to the fact that they now magically represented winter and you had a triplet of idiots who literally couldn't go near heat, much less Rin who represented the sun of spring.

Seeing Miku's exasperation only made Kaito forget his embarrassment at being useless. Recovering his fragile arrogance, he exclaimed sarcastically, "Finally you get it! Now can we move on and stop trying to accuse me of trying to take over the world?"

"No one was accusing you of trying to take over the world," Luka interjected before Miku could muster a retort.

"You were implying it when you accused me of kidnapping Rin and thus possibly creating an eternal winter," Kaito shot back matter-of-factly.

"What matters is that we find a temporary solution to this problem until we can think of a way to get Rin back," Luka pressed on, ignoring Kaito and doing her best to stay on topic.

"Why can't we just go into their base and retrieve Rin? All we need is permission from the majority of the team, and we'll be allowed into the base," Miku suggested, her expression still filled with anger, only the anger was no longer directed at Kaito. It was more anger at Mikuo and at the stupid rule that only the members of a given team were allowed in the base, with the exception of those who've been given permission by the majority of said team. Which meant Miku from Team Summer wasn't allowed in the Winter base until the majority of Team Winter agreed to let her in, the majority being three out of four people, since one team only had at most four people at a time. It was a stupid rule no one knew why it existed, but it did (if only for the convenience of the plot), and that meant obeying it.

The annoyance on Kaito's face was mixed with a hint of guilt. "I would've proposed that if the two other idiots who work under me weren't such idiots."

When the other three just raised their eyebrows, confused and imploring him to continue, he rolled his eyes and explained, "Meaning, Tianyi, the evil bully, takes too much delight in my exasperation with Mikuo and Oliver, the spineless coward, refuses to not take sides with Tianyi. Oh, and they're the ones who wouldn't mind an eternal winter despite the consequences, not me, so none of this is my fault."

Luka groaned, massaging her temples. She'd forgotten how much trouble the duo of Luo Tianyi and Oliver could cause, which of course made her question why they'd even been hired in the first place (even though she knew perfectly why they'd been hired in the first place). "Fine, we'll think of a way to save Rin some other day. First things first. How are we going to deal with all this snow?"

"For now I think it's okay if we leave it be," Meiko advised, glancing towards the center of the table, where a miniature globe of the earth stood. It was an exact replica of the state on Earth, showing that very light snow had begun to pile up all over the Northern Hemisphere. "The snow for now should insulate the plants."

"The plants aren't the only thing we have to worry about," Luka reminded. "I was pretty far into waking up most of the hibernating animals and getting birds to come up North. They need food sources."

"Then get Piko and Miku to melt the snow into rain," Kaito offered, tugging his scarf up again to muffle his words. "I'll do my best to stay calm and keep it from snowing, but if something happens though, I'm sure you and Piko can overcome it with rain. Other than that, I can't control the temperature. You need the sun for that."

"You mean a replacement for Rin until you get her back?" Luka said in a still sarcastic tone. "That's nice of you to suggest."

"You're welcome," Kaito said, not picking up on the sarcasm. He turned to Miku and continued, "You probably want to get Len to do that until his sister's back."

Miku didn't speak for a while, a ponderous look on her face before she started, "Well, about that … he's not really the best state right now."

The pause afterwards was deafening before all four of the leaders let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Of course we're left with that sister-loving idiot."


	4. Chapter 4

_April 2 – 12:00 p.m. – Spring Base_

Len woke to the sound of rain splattering onto the window, a dull pitter-patter against the glass that rattled the frames. His eyes blinked slowly as they took in the dull gray ceiling above him, his vision blinking in and out, alternating darkness with dullness. It took a few more moments like that to get a bearing of his surroundings. The room was dark, the curtains pulled across the windows, leaving heavy shadows that lurked in the corners and along the mellow yellow walls dotted with a banana print that smelled if you scratched them. The shadows left the prints with a murky color that sent chills down Len's spine. He shivered, his mind jumping back to the cold winter nights he spent huddled up in his blankets, alone and unloved.

That was all before he'd been reunited with Rin after their parents' awful divorce of course. A past he didn't want to think about because it proved that he was a loser and loner, a brat with a lack of empathy and an inability to function properly in social situations.

That wasn't who he was anymore. His friends at work knew him as a cheerful, almost too cheerful optimist who was never caught without an idiotic smile and carefree tone. All thanks to Rin of course, which Len both acknowledged and ignored since it helped with the act.

But now Rin wasn't here. She wasn't nowhere near Len, nowhere near any place where he might be able to see her six times a day, during breakfast, lunch, dinner and once between each meal during the day. The sixth was of course at night, after everyone was done with work and had gone back to their respective bases to rest. It'd taken a lot for Len to convince everyone to let him live at the Spring base just so he could spend even more time with Rin and relax with her, but with his usual charm and possessiveness, he'd gotten what he'd wanted. Only now it didn't even matter because Rin wasn't there.

His one and only sweet ray of sunshine was gone.

The thought made Len sick. He didn't want to get out of bed. It meant pulling his chilled body out of the warmth of his comfy sheets and into the dangerous world where Rin was nowhere to be found. He would much rather stay in bed all day, a sin on his part as the summer sun, but for the first time since he took the job, Len didn't care. He didn't care and he wasn't going to, not until he could see Rin and feel her warmth in his arms once again and then continue his little act with the friends he'd come to care too much about.

Which was exactly why, when there was a light knocking on his door, Len convinced himself he'd imagined it. He didn't want to talk to anyone, even if the knocking was real, so he continued to ignore it as the knocks grew louder, instead focusing on how much he wanted to sleep.

"Len, I know you're in there," came the familiar voice of the one and only leek girl he knew.

"Len's not here, Miku," he called back, stretching out lazily on his bed. "He's dead from the lack of his sweet little sunshine."

Len could almost feel the glare Miku was giving him from behind the door. She was quick to slam the door open, knowing it was never locked because then Rin would worry about emergency situations like fires that needed Len to run out in a hurry, and Len was never one to worry his sister, no matter where she was. Len didn't bother to look up as his boss and friend stormed over to his bedside, her blue eyes alight with anger. Times like these made Len think Miku would've made the perfect raging sun, only a Miku sun would probably burn everything in sight in a moment's passion. Not that the occasional Miku floods were any better of course.

"Len, focus!" Miku hissed, pulling Len up into sitting position before his mind drifted off into thoughts of Miku shaped floods and leek shaped suns. "I know you're still in shock or whatever, but get your act together. We're going to do everything we can to get Rin back as soon as possible, so you should do your part too."

"My part exists on the condition that Rin is here," Len replied in as zombie-like a voice as he could muster. "And my act revolves around mimicking Rin who as you know isn't here. So I have no act or part in this."

Miku rolled her eyes. "You know what I've never understood? How the sadder and duller you get, the more eloquent you become."

"Writing is done best with the most troubled of hearts after all," Len muttered back, falling back onto his bed and turning over to bury his face in his pillow.

"Well yours isn't the most troubled, so…" Miku switched on the lights, stepped onto Len's bed and flung the curtains wide open, shouting, "GET UP!"

Len just buried his head into his pillow even more, groaning as Miku yanked the sheets off him, tossing them far away from his reach. He mumbled, "I don't want to. Rin's not there. And now I'm going to die all alone and lonely."

"How are you lonely?" Miku retorted, struggling to drag the pillow out from under Len's face. Len just scrunched his nose together, his weak arms trying to fight against Miku's Hulk-like grip. "You have friends now, don't you?"

"Rin's the only one who matters. I don't care about any of my friends. You know that."

"Yes, I know you don't care about me either, which is _totally_ why you care about how you present yourself to us," Miku said sarcastically, successfully stealing away Len's pillow and forcing him into an upright, sitting position. Resting a hand on Len's shoulder, her expression softened as she continued, "But you don't have to be like you always are. I know you depend on Rin to be all sunshine happy like always, but we don't need you to be like that."

"Then what? You want me to be like this?" Len gestured to himself, the him currently dressed in his flannel pajamas with his hair still a mess. "You want me to go to work like the gloomy freak I am and convince everyone I'm still that chirpy hyper Len that everyone knows and associates with the summer sun?"

"No," Miku said, sighing a little as she sat next to Len, carefully running her fingers through his shoulder-length hair and gingerly brushing through any knots. "Everyone knows you better as a hopeless sister complex, so they won't expect that much out of you. Just do your best to be positive and optimistic by thinking about Rin and how she'll be back soon, and that will be enough. If you're still having trouble, just copy what everyone else looks like they're feeling. Piko and I will be working with you, so that'll be plenty for you to work with.

Len snorted. "Piko? You want me to mimic that hopeless emotional train wreck?"

Miku's lips curled downwards into a frown. "I thought you liked Piko."

"When I'm a happy-go-lucky idiot, yes, but not when I can see just exactly what goes on in that mind of his," Len shot back. "He thinks he knows so much about others and yet he can't even be bothered to get to know himself."

Miku sighed at Len's words, deciding not to delve any further into the issue. From what she knew of Piko, he was smart. A little full of himself and creepily psychic when it came to reading minds, but otherwise a pretty nice, respectful kid. She didn't know what Len was talking about, but she decided it'd be better to leave the issue between Len and Piko.

"Well whatever problems you have with Piko, you have plenty of time to work that out, so can you at least promise to come to work today?" Miku asked, making puppy eyes at Len to make him feel bad. "We really need your help."

Len glared back at Miku, knowing perfectly well she was manipulating him to her will with that stupidly adorable look.

"Fine, I'll do it!" Len groaned, finally caving in. Eyeing Miku's delighted grin with spite, he continued with a snort, "But don't blame me if I keel over and die if you can't get Rin back in a few days."

Miku just laughed as she plopped a change of clothes into Len's lap. Ruffling his blonde locks affectionately, she replied, "Don't worry. I'm more than confident you'll at least last till the end of this month."

Len stared long and hard after Miku as she left the room so he could change. After finally processing Miku's words, he shouted after her, "If you're implying you're not going to get Rin back in a month, I'm going to kill you, you hear me? I'm going to kill every single one of you!"

"I'd like to see you try, you dismally pessimistic idiot!" Miku's voice shouted back from far off in the distance.

Len rolled his eyes and forcefully threw himself off the bed. Oh, how he was going to hate this next month.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

* * *

_April 2 – 12:00 p.m. – Winter Base_

Rin woke up shivering, which was strange. She was the sun; she never felt cold, and yet here she was.

Shivering.

Rin pushed herself up with a groan, hands crossed to massage her arms, hoping to get her blood flowing. For some reason, her head felt woozy, like someone had drugged her in her sleep.

The thought immediately kick-started Rin's brain into action. She hastily glanced around at her surroundings, hoping to figure out where she was. The room she was in was bluer than blue, the walls painted to mimic the depths of an ocean, dark blue melting into lighter shades with streaks of white illuminated waves. It was a sight that would've taken her breath away if she wasn't so aware of the possible danger she was in. She was sitting upright on a tidy bed, cerulean covers over a fluffy white pillow where her head had just been, as if someone had laid her carefully upon the bed sheets. The gesture was so polite Rin was almost inclined to believe the culprit was her brother. Almost because she knew Len would never paint any of his rooms the color of the sea. Besides, Len knew better than to take her away during her working season. The room was also too cold to be Len's, but also too cold to be a human's because if it was enough to make Rin shiver, it was enough to kill any normal human being.

Which meant…

"Why am I in the Winter base?" Rin shouted as loud as she could, hoping someone outside the room could hear her.

As luck would have it, someone had. The door cracked open just enough for Rin to spot a head of unruly blonde hair stuff under a sailor's cap poke into the room.

"Oliver, is that you?" Rin asked, keeping her voice gentle. She'd met Oliver once or twice before at Headquarters, and from what she could tell, Oliver was shy and nervous around others. Especially around Rin, which she attributed to her position in Team Spring, so she made sure to do her best to not intimidate the boy.

The person in the doorway quickly froze up anyways and backed away, the door slamming shut again. Rin sighed in defeat. She would've liked to at least come to be on friendly terms with Oliver and the rest of Team Winter, even though she was their "natural enemy" but for now, she just wanted answers.

"So you woke up," came a dull voice from the doorway.

Rin looked up to find Mikuo standing there, a small yet cheerless smile on his face. She'd met Mikuo once before, when he'd first taken the job. She remembered him being quite unhappy with his assignment to Team Winter, which just made it all the more confusing as to why he agreed to the job anyways. As Miku's twin, Mikuo had pretty much the same features as Miku, turquoise hair, only cropped short, with beautiful blue eyes and a flawless complexion. He was dressed warmly, wearing a gray parka with turquoise cuffs and long black pants, suggesting that he was still unused to living in such a cold environment.

"Are you the one who brought me here?" Rin asked calmly, not accusingly, only curious. She took the answer as yes when Mikuo's eyes darted around nervously without meeting her gaze. She continued, "Why'd you bring me here?"

"I kidnapped you as an April Fool's prank," Mikuo bluntly replied, nervously glancing over at Rin. He was almost afraid she might burst out into an angry tirade like his sister often did, scolding him for his childish antics whenever he tried to get his sister's attention.

To Mikuo's surprise, Rin suddenly let out a snort that bubbled into a hearty laugh. "Hah, you're a genius! Stealing the sun itself is the ultimate prank!"

"Err, thanks?" Mikuo hesitantly said, not sure what to make of Rin's reaction. Half of him was extremely confused, almost suspicious, but the other half was relieved. Rin wasn't angry. In fact, her positive reception to his "prank" almost made him happy with himself, that he could make someone laugh so much.

"Don't thank me," Rin said, still smiling. "It is pretty funny if you think about it. But today's already the second of April, isn't it? If this is just a prank, why haven't you taken me back yet?"

Mikuo gulped. It was a kinda scary, how sweet and smiley Rin could look while being so perceptive of Mikuo's intentions. Then again, he guessed it wasn't too surprising. She did represent the sun after all, and as cliché as it was, the sun was an entity that shone light on everything, especially the truth.

"I… mayormaynotbestagingarebellion," Mikuo muttered, his words coming together like it was one big word due to the lack of pauses.

"Staging a rebellion?" Rin asked, a wry smile lining her lips. "Against what?"

"Nothing in particular," Mikuo said, slowly gaining more confidence in his voice as he tried to defend his actions now that he'd spit out the stupid part. "I just thought maybe you could take a quick vacation and see how the world reacts to it."

Rin's smile vanished as quickly as it'd appeared. Mikuo didn't like the look Rin gave him. It was a stern, almost scolding look that didn't fit well on Rin's normally bright and cheery expression. Slowly, Rin said, "Look, Mikuo, I know you're new to this job, but that doesn't give you the right to fool around. You're Miku's brother, and Miku is someone I like and respect very much, so I want to give you that same respect. I agree, this is a fun thing to do temporarily, but I'm sure you're smart enough to know the consequences of this so-called prank isn't funny at all."

"Really? Because I think it is. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? An eternal winter? I wouldn't mind that," Mikuo shot back, strangely riled up at Rin's remark. He didn't even understand why he was feeling so angry, but he hated how everyone had to mention Miku when they talked to him, the strong leader of Team Summer even though she spent half her days pissed off at something stupid. Even more, he hated that Rin was scolding him without really scolding him, telling him what he did was wrong and that he should know better and yet mixing all her words with stupid things like respect and understanding. He hated how it made it all the more difficult to get really angry at Rin because she wasn't telling him what to do and asserting her superiority over him; her tone was kind, understanding, more of trying to understand why Mikuo had done what he did rather than telling him off for what he'd done, and it made Mikuo uncomfortable.

Rin's words broke through Mikuo's stream of thought as she casually remarked, "Mikuo, you don't have to lie to me. The fact that you're wearing a parka suggests you don't like the cold. Why would you want to cause an eternal winter then?"

"That's none of your business!" Mikuo snapped, eyes narrowing into a glare before he realized what he was doing. His body had gradually become more responsive to his emotions, which meant every time he got angry at someone or something, icicles tended to magically form around him, ready to attack his target, which in this case was a still very calm Rin. It didn't make any sense to Mikuo, how Rin could be so terribly calm when he'd almost thrown sharp icicles at her, but he didn't care anymore. He'd wanted to be nice because he felt bad for dragging Rin into the mess he was bent on creating, but he couldn't take how nice Rin was acting.

It made him feel guilty, which was the one thing he couldn't afford to feel right now. Not after he'd steeled himself for this joke of a prank.

"Look, I'm sorry for kidnapping you and maybe causing the end of the world, but I don't care anymore. You're stuck here for as long as I need you to be, and that's all you need to know," Mikuo said, letting out a long breath in hopes of letting go of some of his anger. "I've set a barrier around this room so you can't get out, but you can move freely within this room, got it?"

Rin was silent as she sat there on the bed, fixing Mikuo with a thoughtful look. In an effort to avoid the gaze that looked ready to uncover all his motives, Mikuo looked away from Rin's eyes. He suddenly noticed that Rin was shivering, if only slightly. Now that he thought about it, it was really cold in the Winter base, even for someone who represented the sun. Mikuo had simply assumed Rin would be fine since her body heat was more than enough to provide the warmth she needed, but he guessed even that wouldn't have been enough. Without another word, he quickly shed his jacket, wincing at the biting cold before tossing the parka to Rin. He mumbled, "Wear that if you're cold."

Rin stared at the jacket for a moment before breaking out into a warm smile. "Thanks," she said, slipping into the warm parka. Hugging it tightly to her own body, she tried her luck once more as she added, "Though if you're nice enough to give me your jacket, what made you decide to kidnap me?"

Mikuo froze up again, his eyes staring pointedly at the ground. "Like I said, it's none of your business," Mikuo muttered before stepping out and quietly shutting the door behind him, leaving Rin once again alone in the room she supposed she was being imprisoned in.

Rin sat there on the bed for another moment or so, staring at the door as she tried to think about everything that'd happened. She'd been kidnapped, which meant Luka was probably panicking, Len was probably back to his gloomy self, and the world was going to suffer pretty terribly if she didn't return anytime soon. Rin had to chuckle to herself. It'd been a while since she'd come up with so many negative things in life.

And yet, she couldn't find the heart to get angry at Mikuo, the culprit behind all the negative things to come. Normally, she'd be called out for being too nice and forgiving, but this was different. Something was very obviously bothering Mikuo enough for him to take such a drastic measure, and while it would've been nice to know what that something was, from what Rin could tell, it couldn't have been motivated by a malicious thought.

After all, how else could his parka give off such a warm feeling of kindness?


	5. Chapter 5

_April 5 – 4:30 p.m. – Spring Workshop_

The spring workshop was an ironically dull place to work at. Like all other workshops, it was a small windowless room with three walls covered with computer monitors and a single square table situated in the middle of the room. Normally, only four people ever worked in the workshop at a time, but since this was a special situation, five people had been in the room working since the fiasco started, consisting of the remaining members of Team Spring with the addition of Miku and Len. Of course, the fiasco had only started a few days ago but a few days was more than an eternity for Len. Working with Team Spring in an effort to curb the onslaught of snow and raise the air temperature was tiresome. It'd required a continuous effort to smile painfully at everyone else and make the minimalist of efforts to engage in small talk as they tried to salvage the situation the best they could. That was the most effort Len was willing to put into his work at this moment, and it was putting a drain on him.

And so, now that they were officially off duty for the time being, Len did what he currently loved best.

Sleep.

Of course, as luck would have it, even his precious sleep couldn't always be left undisturbed.

Len wasn't quite sure if he was imagining it at first, if it was just a dream or a hallucination caused from over-exhaustion. He had this strange feeling that something was hovering over him, a dark shadow cast over his face as something, someone, leaned in towards him. There was a small creak of the table, of something pressuring the old table to stabilize their balance. Len felt his heart rate pick up, anxiety rushing through his body as his mind tried to determine whether it was stuck in a dream. If this were all a dream, maybe Len wouldn't have minded it, even from the person he knew was hovering over him. But if this wasn't a dream…

Eyes still closed, Len bit down slightly on his tongue, felt pain and promptly threw out an arm to swat at the face trying to steal away his first kiss.

A loud hiss of pain shot through the air as said person fell back, hitting the ground with a thud. Len didn't open his eyes immediately, letting the person escape, light feet fleeing the room. Len waited until he heard the door slam shut behind them to open his eyes, the dull glare of the monitors throwing the room into a bleary gray color. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and stared at the shut door with a glare before shouting, "Seriously? Do you really think I don't know what you're doing?"

He opened his mouth to continue when his brows furrowed together, mouth twisted into a thin line to swallow the words he was about to say back into his stomach. He took a deep breath and instead lazily continued just loud enough for any bystanders to hear, "Miku, I know you can do better than that, but seriously, how many times do I have to say I don't return those feelings? If you're going to make me work, at least treat me with respect!"

Len sighed, feeling a little better now that he'd gotten the anger out of his system, even though it wasn't quite he'd wanted to do. Deciding it'd be best to just go home and sleep, Len peered down at the floor to get down, where a mess of nature lay strewn across the floor from the day's work. Feathers from birds Luka had brought in for shelter, pools of water staining the carpeted floor from Piko and Miku and flower petals littered about the floor from the newbie V-Flower. Surprisingly, Len didn't really mind V-Flower's presence even with his gloomy, sinister self. She was reserved but insightful, a person who made a conscious effort to not say anything disrespectful but surprisingly strong-willed and independent. Under normal circumstances, Len's bright and idiotically cheerful self would've been annoyingly persistent in trying to get V-Flower to crack a smile, but for now, he was glad for her eternally bored poker face. It made his fake smiles look brighter in comparison, so he'd naturally stuck closer to the girl in gothic attire. She probably didn't think well of him for that but then again, Len was never good at figuring people out.

Speaking of which… Len glanced back up at the door again and called out, "I can sense you standing outside, V-Flower."

The door quietly opened again to reveal the petite girl with her wild hairdo. Len had always thought his bangs were ridiculous for sticking off his head, but V-Flower's ponytail easily took the cake for being wildly all over the place, sticking up and down, silvery white with a dark purple streak off to the side. He never could figure out if she did it on purpose or not, but it wasn't important, so he didn't ask.

"Sorry, I heard you shouting angrily, so I wasn't sure if I ought to go in or not," V-Flower apologized without sounding very apologetic.

Len held in a smirk, knowing V-Flower was only apologizing to be polite. Instead, he said, "It's fine. I saved my first kiss for Rin, so all is well with the world."

V-Flower crinkled her eyebrows slightly at the thought and said, "So you really are in love with your sister?"

"Not romantically, no. I love her as her brother, as her family, and as a person helplessly dependent on her for survival, but that's really just it. Doesn't mean I still won't try to steal her first kiss before she finds a lover," Len casually replied. Just as V-Flower fixed him with a curious look, Len prompted, "By the way, did you see anyone running away from this room before you got here?"

V-Flower didn't say anything for a long time, her eyes narrowing slightly as she regarded Len suspiciously. Slowly, she asked with careful words, "I thought you said you knew it was Miku who tried to kiss you."

"I know. Doesn't mean I believe it."

V-Flower continued to glare at Len, looking as if she knew perfectly well what Len was getting at. She said, "Well it was Miku."

"You don't have to lie," Len said with a wry grin. "I already know who it is after all."

"If you know the answer then why ask me the question?" V-Flower said with a slightly hostile tone.

"Just to see if you knew. Which I'm assuming you do," Len smiled. It was so easy for him to smile when he was being nasty, which just made him wonder why he had to be such a terrible person, mocking other people's misfortunes.

V-Flower let out a small sigh. "You're not as nice as people say you are, are you?" she commented, hands on her hips as the corner of her mouth curled upwards.

"Let's chalk that up to me not having Rin around, okay? And as for this, let's keep this a little secret between you and me," Len suggested, swinging his legs off the table and stepping onto the messy floor. Dusting his hands off on his pant legs, he suddenly said, "By the way, have you seen Piko? I really need to talk to him about not leaving water all over the floor and—"

The dirtiest of dirty looks that V-Flower shot him was completely worth it as she stepped right up to Len, cutting him off, and growled, "He went off to talk to Gumi and Lily, who were here to see how you were doing. But I guess that doesn't really matter to you since you like messing with people's feeling so much."

She spun on her heels and stalked out the door, her black high heels clacking across the floor angrily. Len just casually leaned back against the table, laughing to himself as V-Flower's footsteps grew fainter. It was mean of him to poke fun at V-Flower's very subtle crush on Piko, but he had done it anyways, for that very reason and all the many reasons beyond that, whatever that was supposed to mean. Trying to poke some emotions out of V-Flower, even if that primary emotion manifested itself as justified anger, was strangely fun. Strange because Len normally couldn't picture himself acting like this, all sarcastic and belligerent. Usually, without Rin he was mainly just gloomy and lazy, escaping from all human interaction until he could see Rin again, and yet somehow his interaction with V-Flower had sparked a different reaction. Maybe it was just due to the subject at hand, or maybe it was the author forgetting his personality and being too lazy to fix it (shut up Len). Or maybe it was something V-Flower had triggered inside him. It was hard for him to get close to people, even people he considered his friends when he wasn't so gloomy, but with V-Flower, with her poker face and her disregard for sincerity, it was easy with the assurance that V-Flower was going to treat him the same way whether he was gloomy or idiotically cheerful or just plain nasty.

The snarky glint slowly faded from Len's eyes as he pondered the thought. He'd spent most of his life thinking of himself as worthless, except when he had Rin by his side. It was strange to be able to so casually talk with someone without Rin by his side to keep his smiles real. Sure he'd probably given the worst of first impressions, but talking to people hadn't been as terrible as he remembered. It'd been … enjoyable. Enjoyable talking to someone without relying on imitating Rin's facial expressions.

The thought that he didn't need Rin around to get along with others was daunting. It wrapped around his heart and strangled it, his heart rate racing until it was all he could hear pounding in his ears.

He didn't want that.

No matter how much Len hated how he was, he couldn't let go of the past, of Rin who saved him from himself when he needed it most. Len was too afraid of the future to let the past go, and this one conversation wasn't going to change that.

So he convinced himself it was only because of V-Flower and her apathetic but annoyed attitude, and that this was no indication that he could ever hold a conversation on his own without faking a smile of Rin's with his forcefully wide eyes and up-curved eyebrows. He was going to rely on Rin like his life depended on it, and nothing was going to change that.

Len straightened up and walked out the workshop, letting his feet drag across the floor and his bangs droop over his eyes, retreating into his gloomy self until he arrived where Gumi and Lily were talking cheerfully to the now composed V-Flower and Piko, who Len avoided eye-contact with, knowing Piko didn't want to see him at the moment, just as much as Len didn't want to see him.

Before they could notice anything wrong of course, Len had his smile back, his mask to hide the gloom lurking beneath the surface. It wouldn't hurt to keep this façade up for a few more days, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he let it crack apart just to prove he wouldn't, couldn't change.

 


	6. Chapter 6

_April 6 – 3:00 p.m. – Winter Base_

For someone who was being held "hostage," Rin was having a surprisingly good time. Mikuo still showed no intention of revealing his motivations for this kidnapping incident, and he was doing a good job of avoiding her, but Rin wasn't in a hurry to find out.

Well, she was because she needed to go back for work and thus she wanted to help him resolve the issue, but otherwise she didn't really mind. In fact, she was kinda enjoying herself, especially with this gold opportunity to get to know Team Winter better. Rin had a hobby of making friends, and sometimes, it got in the way of her duty to her job.

"What you thinking about, Rin-chan?" Tianyi asked, breaking Rin's train of thought with a bright smile.

"Nothing much. Just how glad I am too get to know the two of you some more," Rin answered quite honestly.

Tianyi let out a quick chortle. "You really are as weird as the rumors say."

"Oh, uh…" Rin struggled for a response, not sure what to say back after being called weird. She hoped it didn't mean Tianyi thought ill of her.

"It's Tianyi's weird way of complimenting people," Oliver quietly supplied, glancing briefly up at Rin. He'd been sitting there feeling awkward as Tianyi struck up a conversation with the positive, optimistic girl. He'd never been good with people. They had too many opinions about too many things, though everyone almost always had the same opinion about him. He was grateful for his job because it got away from all those terrible people in the world, but even more so because it allowed him to work with one of the things he loved best: animals.

"Don't call me weird," Tianyi shot back, giving Oliver's right ear a good pinch. Oliver's expression didn't change in the slightest as he tugged at his bangs and muttered a quiet "Sorry." It made it hard for Rin to figure out if the pinch had actually hurt and Oliver was just slow to show emotion, or if the pinch had been more of a playful tease than one with the intent of pain.

Tianyi turned back to Rin and said, "But what Ollie here said is true. You shouldn't feel offended by anything I say. Me having an opinion about you at all is a compliment itself, and weird is as much of a compliment as it is a teasing term. Being weird means you're not normal and that's always better than being normal."

"But you just said you didn't want to be called weird," Rin said, though flattered by Tianyi's expression of her "compliment."

"Well that's because when the word weird comes out of Ollie's mouth, it's an insult," Tianyi snickered, throwing an arm around Oliver's shoulder. James, his yellow finch, almost fell off his shoulder but Rin watched incredulously as the bird kept its balance before Tianyi carefully scooped James up and settled him onto the rim of Oliver's sailor cap. It brought a small smile to Oliver's face, as if the thought of a bird on his head amused him.

"The two of you look pretty close with each other," Rin commented.

"I know, right?" Tianyi laughed at the same time Oliver said, "Not really."

"Anyways," Tianyi said, grinning angrily as she pulled on Oliver's cheeks while Oliver's eyes remained emotionlessly dead, "what Oliver meant to say was that we're pretty good friends. There's only four of us here on Team Winter anyways, and it's never been easy getting along with Kaito. Mikuo's doing well getting in my good books though, for kidnapping you, no offense."

"Hey, what's all this?"

They looked up to find Kaito staring down at them, only for Tianyi to promptly burst into laughter. Even with Mikuo's barrier to reduce the warmth radiating off of Rin's skin, it was still too warm for Kaito. It explained the bags of ice taped all over Kaito's body, but it didn't make him look any less ridiculous.

"Shut up, Tianyi!" Kaito snapped, trying to ignore Tianyi's crumpled figure on the floor, shaking with laughter. He directed his attention to Rin and asked with a softer tone, "Are they bullying you?"

"Oh, no, no they're not," Rin reassured the man, doing her best not to laugh out loud like Tianyi at his appearance even though she knew it was her fault. "We were just having some fun together, that's all."

Kaito raised an eyebrow as his frown deepened. "Are you seriously trying to become friends with the people who refuse to let you out of here?"

Rin pursed her lips and shrugged. "I like making friends. It's a character flaw on my part, but I'm glad I have it."

Kaito groaned, collapsing against the doorframe with a hand to his head. After a moment's pause, he sighed again and said, "Well, as long as you're comfortable for the time being, though it'd be nice if you could convince these two idiots here to help me get you back."

"Insulting people isn't going to get you anywhere," Tianyi jeered, sticking her tongue out at Kaito, who stuck his tongue out back.

"There's nothing wrong with calling two idiots out for being idiots," Kaito shot back. "You probably don't even know the consequences of what you're doing."

"Nature dying off, lingering cold temperature, maybe another major ice age," Tianyi listed whimsically. "I know the consequences, but doesn't it sound fun? You could go out in the summer without having to worry about shrinking all the time."

Kaito opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. He stammered, "Well yes, that'd be nice—"

"Then why are you trying to ruin our fun?" Tianyi demanded.

"B-b-because it's wrong?" Kaito stammered, finding it harder to spit out his words.

Oliver shot Kaito a wary look and pointed out, "Since when did you care about what's right and wrong?"

"S-s-since now!" Kaito snapped back, steam starting to come off him as the ice on him began to melt from his anger. Without warning, he began to grab at the ice packs and throw them onto the floor, shrinking just as quickly as he was shouting angrily, "Besides, it's not like I like the cold anyways! I hate it!"

He stormed off in child form again, holding up the length of his pants as his tiny feet padded down the hall. The three of them stared after him before sharing a questioning glance.

"Was Kaito always this emotional?" Rin asked, confused by the display before her. In all the time Rin had known him, Kaito had maintained a cold, composed demeanor at Headquarters whenever he was in front of others. He was known for being an apathetic and compulsive liar with a past kept as one of the most protected secrets by the four leaders of the Seasonal Alliance. There had been rumors of a nicer side, especially when Kaito was spotted splurging on ice cream, but otherwise Kaito kept to himself, interacting with others only when needed and clinging to his girlfriend. Rin wouldn't have ever guessed that Kaito could be so easily upset, but she guessed it was caused in part by her being there and disrupting his usual schedule.

"Not usually, but this is a special situation," Tianyi shrugged, confirming Rin's thoughts. "Plus, I heard Meiko's trying to get him to work hard on getting you back. He's the kind of person who caves in to his girlfriend's requests."

"It kinda makes me feel bad," Rin said thoughtfully, getting up to the close the door so the heat wouldn't escape into the base. "I should probably doing more to help myself out of this situation rather than just sit here doing nothing."

"Well you're not doing nothing. You're making friends with us, kinda, right?" Tianyi said with a smile. "Besides, the world's not going to end if it's cold for a few weeks, right?"

Rin didn't reply to that, her eyes instead looking pensively at the door, where beyond that Kaito would be struggling to keep his calm. Without the sun there to keep the weather in check, any negative change in Kaito's temperament could result in varying amounts of snow. The amount of irritation Kaito had just showed was nothing. By most it was a small flurry of snow that the rest of her team could handle and change into something else, but what if…

What if Kaito changed for the worse? Got really mad and didn't calm down?

Rin pushed the thought to the back of her mind. If that happened, if that really happened…

The end of the world would be here sooner than anyone might think.

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

_April 8 – 10:30 p.m. – Seasonal Alliance Headquarters – Cafeteria_

Kaito had spent the past few days trying to talk his teammates out of their stupidity with little success. Mikuo was as stubborn as ever, Luo Tianyi was taking too much delight out of Kaito's misery, and Oliver was still irritatingly ensnared by Luo Tianyi's bullying antics. To make matters worse, Rin looked right at home with the rebellious trio, perfectly happy to befriend the three. She'd even gone out of her way to defend them from Kaito's anger, saying she would rather find a solution on more peaceful terms.

It was enough to make Kaito want to cry. But he couldn't because crying would only make the trio even more smug than they already were. And besides, if he did actually cry and cause another flurry of snowflakes, a very angry Miku would without a doubt be there to scream her leek-obsessed head off at him, which only made him want to cry even more.

Thus, with no other way to release his emotions, Kaito settled for the more self-destructively unhealthy form of catharsis: a food binge.

He'd gotten through roughly twenty cartons of vanilla ice cream and chewed away at fifteen popsicle sticks by the time Meiko found him. How he hadn't suffered a brain freeze yet would forever be a mystery, but all the ice cream had been enough to leave Kaito shivering, cold steam seeping off his now frost caked skin.

"I think that's enough ice cream for today," Meiko declared, casually wrenching the carton of ice cream out of Kaito's shaking hands. Kaito just looked glumly back up at Meiko, who carefully readjusted Kaito's scarf, wrapping it more snuggly around his neck. She gently tousled Kaito's hair, brushing out the crystals of frost that's formed in his dark blue locks before drying it with a handkerchief.

"So what's stressing you out now?" Meiko asked despite knowing the answer. It was something Kaito liked about Meiko. She made him talk about his troubles, allowing him to let go of them rather than bottle them up like he used to. Almost naturally, Kaito's complaints about his teammates began to flow out, slowly building up into a full rant that Meiko patiently listened to, providing the occasional nod or gesture to show she was still listening and giving Kaito her full attention. By the time Kaito was done, he looked more lively, the cold completely gone as he let out a long breath of air, finally content with himself.

"Feeling better?" Meiko smiled, handing Kaito back his ice cream now that he was no longer half frozen.

Kaito savored the final bits of ice cream before contentedly leaning against Meiko, resting his head on her shoulder with a happy sigh. He said, "Yeah, thanks for listening to me even though you're probably busy with work."

"Don't be silly," Meiko teased, gently running her fingers through Kaito's hair. "I'm always going to be here to listen to your troubles. Remember my promise to you?"

"Of course. You promised to be by my side and believe in me as a person," Kaito smiled back. "Though I still feel bad that I can't give you anything back in return."

"You being you is good enough," Meiko reassured her boyfriend, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "So no matter what happens, don't give up trying to get Rin back. You're the only one who can convince your team to get them back, and I know you can do it."

Kaito nodded, suddenly feeling a wave of drowsiness fall over him as a gentle warmth begin to fill his chest. He'd been running around with little chance to sleep for the past few days, so maybe releasing all his negative feelings had allowed for sleep to finally catch up to him. One glance at Meiko proved that his drowsiness was also in part caused by a little of Meiko's magic, and for that, he was grateful. Being taken care of by Meiko only reminded him how lucky he was to have someone like Meiko in his life, someone who could understand and believe in him, a person Kaito could only have wished he had before he accepted the job. Meiko was the first and only person to accept him for who he was and for that, he would do anything to make her happy and stay in her good graces.

 _Anything_.

* * *

Meiko let out a contented smile upon seeing Kaito drift off into sleep. Even now, years later, it warmed Meiko's heart to see Kaito sleep so soundly in her arms because every time he did, it made Meiko want to love Kaito even more so he'd never have to return to the way he was before, sleeping fretfully on the frozen, dirty streets for fear of a passing thief or thug. True, she didn't get much out of this relationship, other than this happy feeling, but to Meiko, that was more than enough. Getting Kaito to join the Seasonal Alliance had made work enjoyable, and while Kaito got the love he'd desperately needed, Meiko too got a companion to hang out with, to love and care for.

Meiko could still remember the first time she'd met Kaito. It'd been her first year on the job, when Kiyoteru was still the leader of Team Autumn before he gave the position to Meiko because he wanted more time to teach. Team Winter had just suffered from a major loss of people, three resigning because they missed the warmth and the seasonal changes and the families they couldn't see because of their new body condition with the last member close to making the same decision due to the stress caused by the others' absence.

Team Winter had always been a team full of people who came and went because they couldn't handle the stress of being subjected to a life where they physically couldn't come into contact with warmth. It meant a life trapped inside when it was warm outside and an abnormal body with cold temperatures despite the enhanced powers that came with it. Because of this, Team Winter was generally considered the strongest of the Seasonal Alliance, but easily the most fragile, so it wasn't odd to see people come and go. Having three people at once though, was a strain on the system that threatened a situation exactly opposite to the one that was currently occurring: a major rise in global temperatures now that Team Winter lacked the manpower to create a cold draft for winter itself.

Thus came the hunt for new members. It wasn't necessary for a team to function with four people, though four was definitely the optimal amount. The Seasonal Alliance was happy enough to settle for just one additional member as long as it was someone who could pull the weight of the team, someone with the strength and willpower to create the cold that was needed to return the world temperature back into balance. The difficulty of the task laid in the type of person that had to be recruited. The Seasonal Alliance usually wasn't very strict or detailed about finding people for the job as long as they somewhat fit the position. The fact that Len had even been invited to take the position of the summer sun was cemented evidence of the fact. Usually it didn't take an exact fit to work the job, but in this case, with global warming on the line, the Seasonal Alliance couldn't afford someone who kinda fit the job. They needed someone who could fit perfectly into one of the elements of winter, the best fit one could possibly hope for. That's how the system worked. The better the fit, the stronger and more powerful the element. They needed someone with the harshness of a cold winter, of ruthless blizzards and biting cold. To the Seasonal Alliance, ruthlessness and cold-heartedness went hand in hand with criminal activities. Kaito had been the milder of the bunch, and coupled with his blue hair that made him fit into the winter scheme (yes the Seasonal Alliance also judged by appearance and names), the Seasonal Alliance hoped he'd be ruthless enough to spread the cold but also mild enough to keep under control. And so, with winter on the line, they scouted out Kaito during the first snowfall of his twentieth winter, expecting a savior.

Until he rejected them.

That was how Meiko had met him, there on the snowy streets of Kaito's hometown, a city wrecked with corruption and crime. She'd been sent to find Kaito and convince him to join, since she was still considered a newbie on the job with not much to do at the moment. Meiko had regarded it as a pain in the butt at first, but surprisingly, meeting Kaito that day, gaining the trust of a man who lived a life of lies because he couldn't trust anyone was the one most positive thing that had ever happened in Meiko's life. And for that, as Meiko hugged Kaito closer to her with a smile at the memory, Meiko couldn't have been more grateful.


	8. Chapter 8

_Mid-February – Sometime Somewhere in Crypton Capital City_

After walking around and casually stepping around any suspicious looking figures, Meiko found the new recruit huddled in the shadows of a back alley, his bony pale hands shivering as he rubbed them together to produce heat, his blue hair matted down and discolored with dirt and dust. Before Meiko could even get anywhere near him though, he noticed her quietly approaching him and immediately leapt onto his bare feet.

"Who are you? Wait, let me guess. You from that weird season scam thing?" the man named Kaito demanded, his voice cracking slightly.

"Scam? The Seasonal Alliance is not a scam. It's a supernatural organization that governs the seasons," Meiko replied, holding both hands out to show that she meant no harm.

Kaito just snorted. "That's what that weird voice in the snow said. Something about magic and seasons. You really think you can trick me that easily? You probably drugged me and made me hallucinate."

Meiko sighed at Kaito's outlandish imagination, staring down at the ground wondering how to go about the topic. True, it was hard for people to believe in the concept of magic, though once in a while there'd be someone weird enough to not bat an eye about the idea. After all, Meiko too had accepted her job offer with a grain of salt. Kaito didn't look like he was the type to agree to come along for evidence, so Meiko decided she'd take the easy way out.

"Well you know how it's kinda warm out. If I can make it suddenly get a lot colder, will you believe me?" Meiko asked, looking up at Kaito, only to find him gone.

Meiko frowned and scratched her head. "Probably should've expected that," she sighed, snapping her fingers materialize the trail of Kaito's body heat, wispy clouds that formed a path of crystal blue and rosy red. It was a trick she'd learned from her predecessor before she'd officially resigned. Being able to control the temperature came in handier than she'd first thought. She could use the temperature to do lots of things, putting people to sleep by manipulating the warmth to lull the target into a sense of comfort or following their trail by the warmth they left behind like she was doing now. Meiko had practiced the skill enough to observe the slight nuances from person to person, and finding Kaito wasn't even the hardest things she'd been made to do. He did give off a rather distinct trail though. Even now, as a normal human, he had a lower than average body temperature, perhaps just from years of living on the streets, but in the midst of it all, there was a feeble string of unexplainable warmth. Meiko stood ponderingly as she passed her hand through the trail to determine the source of that warmth before shrugging it off. She had better things to do than wonder why there was such a sharp difference in Kaito's trail.

By the time Meiko had found Kaito again though, he was in the middle of a fight against two other guys almost twice his size. Meiko had to admit, she was impressed by how well Kaito could hold off on his own despite his bony limbs, punching and kicking and once in a while biting his opponents, but whether he was skilled at fighting or not didn't matter when he was obviously malnourished in an unfair fight.

"Okay, break it up!" Meiko shouted before they could land a fatal blow on Kaito. The three men just stared at Meiko incredulously.

"Who's that?" one of the men demanded of the battered Kaito.

Meiko expected him to dismiss her, but instead, Kaito said, "Girlfriend."

It was Meiko's turn to stare as the men broke out into laugher, leering at her as they jeered, "Bringing your girlfriend to a fight? Are you an idio—"

Kaito swung his fist at the man pinning him to the ground. The man tumbled backwards with a hiss of pain, giving Kaito the chance to leap up the moment he was free. He spun around anticipating the counterattack from the other, shouting in the meantime, "You better run for it, miss—"

He froze at the sight of the bodies on the ground, fast asleep as Meiko lazily yawned, stretching her arms out. He snapped, "What'd you do to them?"

"Just put them to sleep for a bit."

"How?"

"I told you, didn't I?" Meiko held her arms up and wiggled her fingers a bit. "Magic."

She could see Kaito was tensing up, as if wanting to run for it again, so she shifted topics. "Now before you try running away again, why would you tell them I'm your girlfriend if your end goal was to give me a chance to run for it?"

"I, it, um, good distraction?" Kaito stammered with a flustered look.

Meiko pondered his response for a moment before saying, "Well you're lucky I can take care of myself, but thanks. I appreciate it."

"You're not angry I called you my girlfriend?"

Meiko shrugged, though she didn't miss the anxious look on Kaito's face. "It's just a name. Doesn't mean anything if there's nothing true about it. But besides that, will you believe that magic exists, Kaito?"

"Ok, ok, fine I'll believe it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let your shady organization drag me off to who knows where," Kaito shot back, the hostility returning to his eyes.

"Why won't you consider this offer? You get free food and rooming," Meiko said. "Bunch of other stuff too."

"I-I don't need food. I have enough of it where I live," Kaito hastily said, the panicked expression back.

"So should I assume you have a place to stay with people you care about?" Meiko asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Y-yeah, I have all of that. So stop following me around and trying to shove your worthless pity down my throat," Kaito shot back, gulping hard.

"So is this what this is about? Pity? You don't want anyone to make fun of you for being weak and pitiful?" Meiko said, knowing she'd hit a nerve as Kaito panicked even more.

"N-no, this, I, I'm not weak," he stammered back. His voice gradually growing more confident, he repeated, "I'm not weak or pitiful. I had a great life, okay? Stealing's just a lot more fun than sitting around working my butt off so I ran off with their money and I've done fine on my own since. I can live perfectly fine like this and I'm happy, so can you leave me alone now?"

Meiko stared long and hard at Kaito until she was sure that his confidence began to waver. She asked, "Are you a compulsive liar? Are you lying so no one will try to take advantage of you? Or are you lying to protect yourself?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kaito managed to spit out, his voice stiff.

Meiko sighed before pulling out a small notebook. Flipping it open and making sure Kaito's attention was on her, she read out loud, "Shion Kaito, age twenty, birthdate unknown, abandoned at an orphanage as a baby before running away at age seven. Since then you've been living on the streets, stealing and doing whatever else for survival until you established yourself as a force to reckon with, working small jobs for the mob and manipulating others to do your dirty work for you. However, recently you messed up a mission that now has the mafia sending people like these two men here after you. Now you're just a man on the run on the top of the mafia's hit list with nowhere to go and a rapidly declining condition that gives you about a week left to live if you're not killed off first."

"You, what, that, that's a breach of privacy, you creeps!" Kaito shouted, stumbling backwards as he pointed an accusing finger at Meiko. "How the hell do you know all that?"

"We're surprisingly good at uncovering people's pasts when we put our minds to it," Meiko sighed. "But don't worry, usually we're not like this. We're not bad people. We just really need your help and I'd be happy if you could cooperate."

"And why should I trust you?"

Meiko faltered, suddenly realizing she didn't have a response to that. Why should he trust her? From everything Meiko knew about Kaito, he'd been abandoned and abused his entire life. He had no reason to trust anyone, so why should she make him trust her?

"Ok, you're right. We're strangers who just met, so there's no reason for you to trust me," Meiko conceded.

Kaito faltered, staring at Meiko with suspicion. "I'm not falling for your reverse psychology trick thing."

"I'm not using one," Meiko said. "I do want you to trust me though, so will you give me a moment to just to talk to you?"

Kaito warily looked from Meiko to the men still out cold on the ground to the open air behind him, the wind howling in the narrow alleyway. Finally, he sat down and tugged his dirty white coat closer to his body, a resigned look on his face.

"Okay then," Meiko said, taking in a deep breath as she moved to sit down across from him. Kaito was hanging his head, his dirty bangs hanging low over his eyes that peered out from behind them, a dull blue that was giving up. On what, Meiko could only guess, but suddenly, she felt like it was up to her to bring the light back into those tired eyes. She started slowly, "Okay, so my name is Meiko. No last name because unlike you I didn't have the guts to run away from my orphanage. I started my job with the Seasonal Alliance a few years ago, and I'm in charge of all the autumn festivities because in return I get to drink as much sake as I want."

Kaito stared harder and stated blankly, "I thought you were trying to convince me to take the job."

"But first I want you to trust me," Meiko replied, "and to get your trust, we have to get over this hurdle of just being strangers, so I'm telling you about myself, just as I hope you can tell me about yourself."

"You already know everything," Kaito grumbled.

"Not everything," Meiko corrected. "For example, my favorite food is sake. What's yours?"

"Sake's not food," Kaito started.

"It is," Meiko immediately replied with a defiant look.

Something must have amused him because the corner of Kaito's mouth curled upwards. He sat there half-smiling at his bony hands before saying, "Ice cream's pretty good. Vanilla especially. But any kind of ice cream's good."

"Even in this cold weather?" Meiko asked, looking round shivering slightly. She hadn't worn a jacket under the misconception that everywhere was steadily growing warmer, which left her in a tank top and jeans. Terrible mistake.

"It's not that cold," Kaito shrugged even as he clutched his jacket tighter. "You get used to it. Kinda. But ice cream's still good in any weather."

"Huh, well if that's the case, wanna go get some?" Meiko said, stretching her arms. "It'll be nicer if we could talk over so food. Plus, I really need to get a jacket."

Kaito glanced hesitantly before muttering, "Do you want mine?"

"Haha, no, keep it. I can tell you're just saying this to be polite," Meiko laughed, noting how tightly Kaito had the fabric clutched in his fingers.

"No, really," Kaito said, shooting up to his feet and taking his coat off. "It's kinda dirty, but you should take it. I'm more used to being left in the cold after all."

There was something heartbreaking about the way he said it. Meiko couldn't bear to take the jacket away from Kaito, who obviously didn't want to part with it, so she gently pressed the coat back into Kaito's hands and said, "Don't worry about it. This coat's important to you, right? Besides, I've been needing a new jacket, so do you mind accompanying me to buy one?"

Kaito stared down at his feet, finally nodding slightly. Without another word, Meiko grabbed Kaito's freezing hands and dragged him along down the alley and back to the open road. Kaito was spluttering behind her, trying to say something or too embarrassed to from the way his cheeks flushed red, but Meiko just kept walking, hand in hand to the nearest clothing shop.

"I'll be right back," Meiko said, giving Kaito a warm smile before disappearing into the shop. Kaito blankly stared after her, not quite sure how he'd been dragged along on this mess. Since when did he go along with what anyone said? For that matter, when did he even bother talking to people, much less strangers?

After a good ten minutes, Kaito wondered if maybe he should just ditch the girl. Meiko. What did he even know about her? She like to drink, and she was an orphan. Like him. Or not like him. It didn't matter either way. She was the first person in a long time who'd approached him with no ill intent (unless recruiting him for the sketchy job was that ill intent), but he wasn't going to let that sway him. No, he was done following people around and trusting anyone. He was done—

Kaito was startled when a wave of dark blue suddenly blinded him, a fabric soft and gentle brushing against his grimy face and settling around his neck. He turned back to see Meiko smiling as she weaved the scarf around his neck.

"What's this?" Kaito said, touching the brand new scarf, almost scared to dirty it with his hands.

"A present, for you," Meiko replied. A small frown began to settle on Kaito's face, so she quickly added, "And for the record, I'm not trying to buy you over. I'm just giving you a gift that'll keep you warm."

"It's not that cold out though," Kaito stated numbly as he expressionlessly dug his chin into the scarf, aware of Meiko's laugh as she replied, "I know. You said that the first time."

Kaito's fingers involuntarily clutched the scarf tighter, wrapping around the soft wool that sat so snugly around his neck. He stood there for a while, savoring the gentle warmth soothing his tired body, before finally mumbling, "Thank you."

Meiko's smile brightened. "You're welcome," she said, casually ruffling Kaito's blue locks. He looked up, startled by the gesture. Greeted by Meiko's confident yet tender smile, Kaito felt a strange feeling fill his pounding heart, something that made him want to smile and cry all at the same time.

"What's wrong?"

Kaito gulped at the question. How could she ask that? How could she know to ask that? Without knowing what'd come over him, Kaito found himself spluttering, "It's just, I, no one's ever done something like this for me."

Meiko stared. She repeated, "No one?"

Kaito shook his head.

"Not one friend? No one you can trust?"

Kaito shook his head again, wondering if he'd said something wrong. It was weird, how just one gift could make him feel so warm, so willing to open up to this complete stranger.

Meiko let out a long sigh. She stuck her hands into her newly bought jacket and asked, "Don't you want friends? People you can hang out with and have fun together?"

"I…can't trust people," Kaito reluctantly admitted, wrapping the ends of his new scarf around his hands nervously. "And I'm always lying to everyone about what I want or who I am."

"You're not lying to me though, right?" Meiko said, more of a statement than a question. She could tell from Kaito's tone that for once he was baring his heart to her, and somehow, that fact along was enough to make her happy.

"No, I'm not," Kaito quickly said, biting down on his bottom lip. "But somehow, I think you're different from everyone else. Like, I don't think I mind talking to you because you're…a bit weird but nice."

"Then why don't you try out at the job?" Meiko said, swerving back on topic. "The people there are weird in their own right, but I can promise you that they won't judge you for anything. I think you'd like it there."

Kaito fell silent. For a split second, Meiko was worried that she'd picked the wrong timing to go back on topic, but instead, Kaito surprised her by asking, "But what if I can't trust them? Won't that be bad for your work?"

"Then trust me. Trust me, and I promised I'll always be by your side and believe in you as a person," Meiko said, grasping Kaito's hands in hers and holding them up before her chest, hoping this heartfelt desire that'd sprung from her heart would reach his. "I'm not going to leave you behind as long as you're willing to follow me, and I'll be there to support you whenever you need me. This is all I can promise you. You're still the one who needs to decide what you want to do with your life,"

Kaito gulped again, slowly lifting his eyes to meet Meiko's. Nestling his chin deeper into his scarf, he finally broke out into a nervous smile, gripping Meiko's hands back as he said, "I could give it a try if you're there."

Meiko grinned back and said, "Great! Now how about that ice cream I said I'd get you?"

This time Kaito finally gave her a happy smile she'd been looking for, still holding her hand tightly in as he laughed, "I hope you're going to pay for me though. I'm still very broke."

"Don't worry about it," Meiko laughed back, using her free hand to tousle Kaito's hair playfully before once again dragging him down the streets. "I just got paid, so I'm getting you all the ice cream you could ever eat!"

And off they went, hand in hand, together with the new bond that'd formed between them, a bond that had never broken, a bond Meiko made sure she'd never break.


	9. Chapter 9

_April 10 – 7:00 p.m. – Spring Base_

Staring out the window at the dreary rain outside, it suddenly struck V-Flower that she hadn't talked to her parents in almost two months. She wasn't quite sure where that thought had sprung out from, but there it was, bugging her. She really shouldn't be concerned at all, but V-Flower had never actually run away from home for so long. Usually she only lasted a week before she reluctantly returned home or the police found her. Of course, this time the conditions were different. Never would V-Flower have ever imagined getting a job, not to mention a job involving actual magic.

Now, it wasn't like V-Flower had any real reason why she ran away from home so often. She just hated getting stuck in the same place with the same routine. Get up from bed, sometimes eat breakfast, get shoved along to school, wait for the day to be over, come home, attempt to do homework, sleep and repeat. What V-Flower really didn't like about that was school. She didn't mind learning so much as the social situation at school, having to talk to people who didn't interest her, following norms she couldn't even understand, learning things that didn't interest her.

That's why she ran away so much. She needed that bit of excitement, of not knowing where she'd live or how she'd survive if only for a few days, to save her from that boredom and lethargy of knowing nothing she did would ever accumulate into anything unless she tried running away from it all.

That'd been the reason she accepted the invitation to this job so easily. She hadn't cared if it was suspicious and weird and sketchy. It was a chance to escape from her boring life, a chance to experience something new despite her boring self. It was more than she could have ever expected, full of work and planning but nothing that ever really made sense when she actually sat down to think about it. Controlling the growth of nature in preparation for spring was kinda arbitrary if you thought about it hard enough. What gave her the power to control nature? To control every aspect of nature? How did she even have this power? They were questions nobody thought much about, and V-Flower knew exactly why they didn't bother: because thinking about only made your head hurt.

"Hey, is something the matter?"

V-Flower gave a start from where she was slumped against the window. Luka had settled down next to her with a concerned look. V-Flower rubbed one corner of her mouth, wondering if she'd had a troubled look on her face.

"You kinda did," Luka smiled.

V-Flower just sighed. She asked, "Why does everyone always seem to be able to read my mind?"

"Oh, you mean Piko? He's good at it. Almost to a point where it really freaks you out," Luka laughed, twirling a strand of her light pink hair around her finger. "But in my case, you had a troubled look on her face, and your actions suggested you didn't realize it, that's all."

"Oh." V-Flower stared back at the window and the rain still battering the glass. Luka didn't say anything, and V-Flower was thankful for that. Normally people were always telling her to speak up, to give a proper response, but Luka was one of the few people who seemed to know to give V-Flower the time to think.

"I guess I was wondering how my parents were doing," V-Flower finally admitted. "I've never been away from home for so long."

"Well, about that, we've already contacted your parents and told them where you'll be for the time being," Luka replied casually, staring out the window with V-Flower, who just stared at the leader with furrowed brows.

"They know? You told them? What?" V-Flower was spluttering, the thought that her parents had been told she was working as a magical facility that made no sense logic-wise.

"Not about the magic part of course," Luka reassured the girl. "Just that you've found a job that provides food and shelter, and that you're doing well here and that they don't have to worry about you."

"So they aren't worried about me?" V-Flower repeated, her mouth tightening into a thin line.

Luka just smiled warmly back, the signature motherly smile she seemed to be known for. "They were," she said. "They were worried about where you'd been and if we were even an actual company, but I managed to convince them that you are indeed safe and I hope happy here for the time being."

"Oh," was all V-Flower said again, pursing her lips. So her parents had been worried about it. Strangely, it was… satisfying for once, to know they cared.

"You're happy they're still concerned about you," Luka observed, watching the corners of V-Flower lips curl involuntarily upwards.

The gothic girl glanced up at Luka with a resigned look in her eyes, still smiling. She asked, "Is it really obvious?"

"It's painted all over your face," Luka laughed.

"But I mean, that's kinda mean of me, isn't it? To be happy that they're worried," V-Flower said.

"I think it just shows that you're glad to know they care about you because deep down you're concerned about them too," Luka replied, resting a reassuring hand on V-Flower's shoulder. V-Flower smiled warmly at the gesture until Luka asked, "So, what's else on your mind? I'll listen to all your troubles, no matter what they are."

"I don't think there's anything else?" V-Flower said, not sure if Luka was being overly concerned or if she herself was missing something she hadn't noticed.

Luka looked thoughtfully at V-Flower, convincing V-Flower that Luka must be seeing something V-Flower hadn't been paying attention to. What it was, V-Flower had no idea.

"Oh no, it's ok if there's nothing," Luka quickly added, noting V-Flower's troubled look. "I was just wondering if you were getting along with the team okay. You know, if you were enjoying the job and all."

"Oh, um, I guess it's going well," V-Flower replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's a lot more work than I expected but it's been fun."

"That's good to hear," Luka smiled. "Though trust me, most of the time it's not as crazy as this. This year's kinda of a … you know, special situation."

"Because Rin's been kidnapped?"

Luka nodded. "Especially since we don't have a way to get her back yet. It really shows what a terrible system the Alliance is."

"So this has never happened before?"

"Nope," Luka sighed, her eyes lingering out the window at the gloomy weather. "I don't even know what would prompt Mikuo to do this, unless it's some kind of sibling thing."

"Does the Seasonal Alliance usually hire siblings then?"

Again Luka shook her head. "Len and Rin's case was special because Len refused to join unless Rin came along. As for Mikuo, I suppose we desperately needed someone for Team Winter and I chose the easy way out and asked Miku's brother if he was up for the job."

Luka's sigh deepened as she spoke. "I wonder if that's the issue here, siblings and family."

"Well, they're not on the same team, right? And I'm sure it's not your fault. It's probably just the result of a lot of coincidental motives," V-Flower said, suddenly feeling obligated to reassure her leader.

Luka had to smile at the gesture. She hadn't been too sure of hiring V-Flower, with her record of running away and almost sullenly quiet rebellious attitude, but times like these reminded Luka of the warmth she'd seen in V-Flower when going over her file. She rested a warm hand on V-Flower's shoulder and grinned, "Thanks. I'm just glad you and Piko seem to getting along. I don't think I've seen him look so comfortable around someone before."

V-Flower just cocked her head to one side in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What, you didn't know?" Luka asked, a sudden glimpse of guilt crossing her face. She mulled the thought over for a bit before deciding she might as well continue. She sighed, "Well, this is just coming from me, but …"

She glanced around as if to make sure the area was empty (which it was since Len was holed up in his room and Piko was nowhere to be found) before leaning over and whispering with a small smile, "I think he has a crush on you."

V-Flower just stared, not quite sure if she was hearing right. When she was sure she had heard right, she put a hand to her forehead, massaging her temples to say, "Why would you think that?"

"Just from my observations. He brightens up when he's talking to you, so I just thought so," Luka admitted as she took in V-Flower's befuddled look. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything. I'm guessing it bothers you?"

"No, no," V-Flower hurriedly said upon realizing her confusion had been mistaken for something else. "It's just, I thought he had a crush on someone else."

"Oh? You know who?"

V-Flower was silent. Quietly she said, "Well, I don't think he wanted anyone to know about it, so…"

"It's okay, I know, I shouldn't be asking about it especially since I'm supposed to be more mature than that," Luka apologized with a smile. "Sorry for putting you on the spot like that."

"No, it's not your fault," V-Flower said again before stopping short as Piko stepped into the base, shaking the rain out of his hair. For a relatively small teen with almost girly looks, Piko was surprisingly handsome (almost sexy) as he stood in the doorway, fingers running through his hair to flick the rainwater into the far off kitchen sink, his heterochromatic eyes sparkling under the glistening water. Times like these made V-Flower question her view of people, but she chalked it up to Piko's natural tendency to look attractive. Piko was attractive looking, that was that. Definitely not a sign of anything else.

"You're back late," Luka observed, moving to throw a towel in Piko's direction even though he probably didn't even need it, with his powers to control water.

"Just wanted to make sure everything was all set for the night," Piko casually replied, a slight hesitation in his voice despite his best efforts. "What were you two doing?"

"Nothing," Luka said, turning back to wink at V-Flower, a sign that their conversation would stay between the two of them. "Have you had food yet? I was just wondering if you or Len wanted a snack for the night."

"Oh, uh, no, I'm fine," Piko said, a flustered look suddenly crossing his face. "I ate something at Headquarters, so I was just going to get some sleep."

"This early?"

"Long day at work you know," Piko sighed with a grin. "I don't know about the two of you but I'm beat."

"Okay, well I guess I'll just ask Len then," Luka sighed. She turned around to shout, "Hey, Banana-boy! Want some food?"

There was a long pause before Len's voice groaned, "Fineeeeee. But stop calling me that!"

"Well, at least someone appreciates my cooking," Luka grinned.

"I'll help," V-Flower suddenly offered.

"Nah, you can just help me see if Len gets out of bed alright," Luka said, gesturing to Len's room two doors down next to Rin's as a loud thump echoed back to the spring trio, followed by a heavy groan.

"I'll get to bed then," Piko quickly said, hurrying down the hall with a quick nod of acknowledgement to V-Flower, who blinked back and hastily glanced down at the floor with an almost guilty look. At first, Luka wondered if it was just her being uncomfortable about what Luka had just told her, but then Len popped out into the hallway, flinging himself out of his room and just barely stopping himself short from crashing into Piko. The two of them froze there in the hallway, and observing the whole ordeal out of the corner of her eye, Luka saw V-Flower's eyes glance downwards, almost guilty looking before Piko finally smiled and said, "Still holding up well?"

"No thanks to you," Len muttered back before Piko headed back down the hall and Len in the opposite direction.

And suddenly, without anyone saying anything, Luka exactly what was going on between the three of them as Len headed over with a grumpy look that brightened slightly at the sight of V-Flower's suddenly hardened glare. Before either could exchange a hello, Luka quickly ushered Len and V-Flower off into the dining room before hurrying back to the kitchen sighing and smiling all at the same time.

She shouldn't have been so humored, but she couldn't contain it. Even as the adult on the team (yes including the freeloader Len), Luka was one of Spring, the season of new beginnings. She wasn't one to interfere with people's relationships though, so, like she did best, Luka simply decided to sit back and relax.

After all, this was something the three of them needed to sort out for themselves, and they had all spring to solve it.


	10. Chapter 10

_April 13 – 8:30 a.m. – Winter Base_

Oliver was having a bad day.

Not that he ever had a good day, but today was especially bad. He wasn't quite sure why he'd felt so terrible waking up, but considering the date was comprised by two unlucky numbers (thirteen for obvious reasons and four sounding like death in Chinese (or so Tianyi had told him)), Oliver wasn't too surprised that he was going to have a worse day than usual.

He just didn't expect his bad feeling to come true in the morning.

Now one thing you had to know about Oliver was that he loved animals, baby animals especially. They were so cute and adorable that he wanted to just sit right next to them and stare at them for eternity. The only problem was that despite being an animal lover, he hated, absolutely hated, having to interact with them. He had always hated physical contact. He just wanted to stare at them, to observe them as one might a painting, and not to actually interact with them.

Just like he hated interacting with most people.

Team Winter wasn't so bad, if only because no one ever tried to be artificially nice to him like some of the people from the other teams did. Having Kaito as a leader meant the teammates he chose weren't always the greatest time at interacting with each other.

Which was why he enjoyed being on Team Winter. Other than the initial discomfort of talking to strangers and getting used to his job, Oliver could be with people who didn't always pay attention to what he did and didn't judge him for the trash he was. More importantly, he got to be with animals while they hibernated or flew away to find warmth, allowing him to spend his quality time with the ones left behind in the winter snow, asleep and unaware of the small blond watching them with unnaturally sparkling blue eyes. Tianyi would always tell him that he only ever looked happy when staring creepily at animals, and like always, Oliver took it as a compliment.

Somehow, his love for animals came up in his conversation with Rin that morning as he brought her breakfast made tenderly with love by Mikuo. Oliver might've been the smallest in the group and the least emotionally expressive, but even he could see the blooming crush in Mikuo's heart. He was a sucker for the nice types as much as he tried not to show it.

"I was wondering, but what's the name of the bird on your shoulder?" Rin had asked as Oliver sat there awkwardly waiting for Rin to finish.

"He's a yellow goldfinch," Oliver tartly replied, readjusting James on his shoulder.

"He's kinda quiet for a bird, isn't he?"

"Well, he's just a stuffed animal."

A surprised look crossed Rin's face. "He is? He looks so real though."

"Kaito got James for me when I joined," Oliver said, smiling a little as he gently tickled James under his beak. He might not have enjoyed physical contact, but he didn't mind it so much with a stuffed animal. Stroking James' featherlike fur was always calming.

"So his name's James?"

"Yeah," Oliver said, glancing up from James to see Rin's smile. Suddenly, his mind connected her words to the question she'd asked before, and he realized with a sinking feeling in his heart that that's what she'd been asking about before. Not the breed name but James' name itself.

Of course he'd answered the question wrong. He'd wasted Rin's time. She hadn't reprimanded him yet but he knew that's how she felt inside. They were all the same, pretending to smile and be nice even though they all knew he was trash. Trash, trash, and trash.

"Useless," a tiny voice in the back of his head whispered. Oliver's hands reached for his bandaged left eye by instinct, scratching at the gnawing discomfort in his mind.

"Hey, are you oka—AHH!"

Oliver snapped to attention. Rin was on her side of the frozen barrier, clutching her wrist tightly as her hand began turning a deathly blue, crystals of ice forming along her fingers.

Oliver just sat there dumbly before suddenly realizing what had happened. Rin must have reached across the barrier without thinking and as a result, the barrier had half-frozen Rin's hand. Normally it was around the room for Rin to move about freely, but Team Winter was well aware of Oliver's dislike of coming into contact with people he didn't know to well. Mikuo had set the barrier up so that it would move in Oliver's presence if he were alone, using the barrier as a means to keep Rin's heat from filling the base, but it also acted as a barrier that kept Rin from leaving and the Winter Team from reaching out to Rin. It was a thin, controlled layer of sublimated dry ice, enough to temporarily freeze Rin's warmth and cause pain, and now she was in pain because of him. She was in pain for wanting to reach out for him, for forgetting about the barrier. Had she wanted him to stop with his bad habit of scratching himself? But what did that mean? She cared? Did she really care?

 _But…_ Oliver paled at the thought. _That meant he'd hurt someone who was willing to care about someone like him._

When Oliver finally reacted, it was too late. He stammered out "I—I'm sorry! I, I'll go find something and, and—" but the more Oliver stammered the quicker his mind began to shut down, his body instinctively curling up and his arms crossing, hands clutching and clawing at the bandages on his arms until his fresh wounds opened up again, dark red against the white bandages. The voices in his head were starting up again, delighted by his anxiety, eating it up as they whispered, "You're just a monster. A monster. Trash. You don't deserve to be here. Monster."

"Hey, HEY!" Rin shouted, hoping to get Oliver's attention. The cold hurt terribly especially because her body temperature was so warm, but she hated how the barrier didn't let her run over to help the boy who was very much blaming himself.

"Oliver, look at me!" Rin shouted, willing all her strength into filling Oliver with a calm warmth. The barrier was definitely obstructing her ability to use magic, but she could tell it was working. As Oliver froze his movements to look up at her gingerly, she put on her best smile and lifted her injured hand up for him to see. "This isn't your fault. Besides, look, it's getting better already."

True, her hand was quickly returning to a normal color, thanks to Rin's ability to warm herself up, but to her dismay, it did nothing to break Oliver out of his trance.

Or rather, she wasn't even sure what Oliver was doing. His actions suggested he was blaming himself, but the look in his eyes suggested the opposite. They were alight with a wild fury, anger directed at her and yet not at her. In the brief moment before Oliver lost his senses, Rin had the terrible feeling that what was reflected in Oliver's eyes wasn't her. It was something more sinister, something much more dangerous.

"Don't call me that," Oliver hissed, so quietly Rin almost missed it.

"Call you what?"

"A monster. I'm not a monster. Don't call me that!"

Rin's response was lost on Oliver. In the midst of the voices taunting and laughing at him, he'd forgotten about Rin, about his new job and friends. He was back in that town, in that park cowering under those leering eyes and giant fists, huddled in a pool of his own blood and tears as he cried salty tears for being so weak.

But not this time. This time he had powers. He had powers to fight back and drive those bastards away. He could fight.

He would fight.

_He had to fight!_

Rin cowered back in spite herself as a brilliant blue light suddenly encased Oliver, his right eye glowing red and his bandages rapidly ripping to shreds as the small boy grew bigger and bigger and bigger. Rin had seen Luka do something like that before, transforming into animals to approach their kind more easily and nurse any injured animals back to health, but this was different. Oliver had transformed with the obvious intent of attacking, his blond hair sleeked back into ruffled feathers, nose and mouth protruding forward into a formidable golden beak. His blue eyes glinted with a malicious darkness as they stared down at Rin, his arms molding into an eagles' talons, his legs into the hind legs of a lion.

Rin watched fearfully as the Oliver turned griffin ruffled its feathers and fixed its beady eyes on her. The room was deathly quiet save for the sound of her own pounding heart as the griffin silently stalked closer to her. Rin knew the animal was only Oliver transformed, but something about this transformation had somehow robbed Oliver of his ability to think straight as he trampled his beloved James underfoot, eyes on Rin without any sign that he even remembered there was a deadly barrier between them.

So just as the griffin leapt at her, claws outstretched with a vicious hiss, Rin curled back, shut her eyes tightly and screamed the first word that came to mind.

"MIKUO!"

A gush of wind exploded through the room as the griffin smashed into the barrier and shrieked in pain, wings unfurling from its back. Rin prayed that it'd give up from the pain, not because she was afraid the creature might hurt her, but because she knew firsthand how painful it was to come into contact with the barrier. She hated the idea of Oliver hurting himself. What she hated even more was that she couldn't stop him.

To Rin's horror, the griffin crawled up from the ground with an angry shake of its head, hissing louder as it began to smash into the barrier again. And again. Shrieking in pain every time but refusing to let go of the anger in its eyes, anger and terror at something Rin couldn't save him from because she couldn't get past the barrier, the cold, vaporous barrier that kept Rin from reaching out to Oliver and hugging the scared boy in her arms and giving him all the warmth she could muster.

She was crying by the time Mikuo burst in through the door, confused why he'd heard his name yelled so early in the morning and all the ruckus that was going on. He froze there in the doorway, watching in horror as the griffin slowly turned its angry eyes on him.

Mikuo didn't know what was happening.

Or rather, he did know but he didn't want to believe it. Oliver was the only one on Team Winter who could transform into animals. Which meant the angry bloody griffin was Oliver but Oliver was the exact opposite of angry and violent so how could that be? And then his eyes fell on the barrier, now barely visible from strain, cracked like a window pane with Rin behind it crying and huddled in a corner with eyes that were begging someone to stop this, to stop all of this.

Even before Mikuo felt the griffin's talons grip his body and toss him towards the barrier that he just barely managed to dismantle before slamming into the wall behind it, Mikuo knew this was his fault. Everything was his fault, the barrier, the kidnapping, the now half-berserk Oliver who was always so quiet and sweet and the sobbing Rin who Mikuo had finally started to think might be his ray of sunshine.

It was always his fault.

So he just sat there, crumpled against the wall as Kaito dashed into the room closely followed by an agitated Tianyi. The two of them subdued the raging griffin easily with a big snowball and a whirlwind to tie the struggling boy down. As Oliver's body temperature gradually cooled down, his anger began to dissipate with it, his monstrous body returning to the small meek boy that Tianyi loved to pick on and take care of, but even seeing her best friend back to normal did nothing to rid the anger in Tianyi's heart as she turned her icy blue eyes on Mikuo and Rin.

"Who did this?" Tianyi shouted. "Which one of you did this to Ollie?"

Mikuo was about to lift a tired hand, ready for Tianyi to rip him a new one when Rin spoke up, still crying her eyes out with her face buried in her hands. "I'm sorry, I should've stopped him, it's all my fault."

"What did you do?" Tianyi yelled, about to storm over before Kaito stopped her, yanking at the back of her shirt as he shrunk down in size again. "Why'd you hurt Ollie?"

"I didn't mean to, I just, he looked like he was berating himself and I wanted to help him but then I touched the barrier and got hurt and then Oliver he just suddenly, I don't know what happened! I just, I just wish I could've done something but I couldn't, and now…" Rin was too overwhelmed with tears to talk any further, instead just curling up even further with a whimper. "I'm sorry."

Tianyi frowned even harder, but her anger had been lost in the confusion that was settling in. So was it Rin's fault? From what Rin had said, it sounded like Oliver had brought it upon himself with his wimpy, self-berating and mostly unstable personality, and yet Rin was apologizing because she thought it was her fault? So was it her fault?

"Oh who cares," Kaito snapped, hooking one arm around Oliver's waist and throwing the boy's arm over his shoulder. With the barrier gone, Kaito was just barely taller than the blond, his boyish face glaring at the three before him. "It's Oliver's fault as much as Rin's and now he's going to hate himself with Rin here, but in the end it's all your fault for messing with nature! Now help me get this brat to his room!"

Tianyi cast Rin one more wary glance before hurrying off to help Kaito with her friend, slamming the door shut behind her. Mikuo settled back into the silence that filled the room in his teammates' absence, his eyes resting gently on Rin's huddled figure.

"It's not your fault," he slowly called out.

"It is!" Rin shouted back, her voice muffled with her head still buried in her knees. "I couldn't do anything to help him even though I was right there, right next to him! I could've ignored the pain but I was too scared to get hurt to even think about how to help him, even as Oliver lost control, and now everyone knows how pathetic I am!"

"You're not pathetic," Mikuo said, his heart sinking as those words buried in deeper. "I—"

"Yes, I am!" Rin shouted, cutting Mikuo off. "I never would've gotten this job if Len hadn't insisted and even then they knew better than to make me the sun of summer. That's all I've ever been, shallow and insincere with my desire to help others!"

Mikuo struggled to find words to comfort the distraught girl. Hesitantly, he asked, "Aren't you exaggerating things?"

"I am exaggerating!" Rin snapped back, finally looking up with a contorted expression of anger and sadness rolled up into one. It was a look that pulled on Mikuo's heartstrings, a stinging pain to see Rin so hurt. She seemed to have gotten her act back a little upon declaring that fact though, only sniffling a little as she muttered, "I hate not being able to help people when they need it. It just makes me feel so shallow and worthless inside."

"Well, you shouldn't feel that way since none of it was your fault," Mikuo took the chance to declare. "Oliver's always been over-sensitive, and then it just makes him feel bad so he thinks he has to lash out to protect himself. After he recovers, by most he'll just avoid you until you leave. And I'm the one who kidnapped you and everything, so in a bigger sense it's my fault for keeping you here. I mean, not that I can now since the barrier's gone, so I guess you could just leave."

Rin heard the defeat in Mikuo's voice. There was something in it that brought her out of her self-belittling misery. It never sat well with her to see or hear someone else being miserable, which was why she found helping others a good solution to her own feelings of self-pity. If she couldn't help make someone else's day brighter, she didn't deserve to feel down herself.

"You never told me why you kidnapped me," Rin suddenly remarked.

"Doesn't matter, it's a personal issue," Mikuo dully replied, studying his fingers with a sudden interest. "You have the chance to leave now and make everything normal again, so why care about the little things?"

"It's obviously not a little thing," Rin pointed out. "I might've only met you once before this whole mess, but Miku's told us plenty of stories about how caring you are to others, so I'm surprised you found the courage to carry out your plan."

"Well maybe everything my stuck-up sister has to say isn't true," Mikuo snapped back, not bothering to hide the venom in his voice. Rin didn't pursue the issue any further, aware of the tension that filled the air every time Miku's name was mentioned.

Rin knew she could just get up and walk out the door of Team Winter's base. It would be so easy. Mikuo wasn't even willing to stop her anymore and she doubted any of the others were too enthusiastic about the dragged out prank either with what had just transpired. But leaving meant turning her back to these people she had never tried to understand before this bizarre opportunity. It meant seeing Oliver's insecurities as they were and leaving the boy to wallow in whatever guilt he might have over this incident and maybe many more before that without at least trying to help him with the strength she had. It meant leaving Rin in bad graces with Tianyi who had up till then looked so humored to have someone new to talk to in the warm months when it was dangerous for them to go outside. And it meant leaving Mikuo and the issues he was clamming up on behind, the unresolved tension between him and his sister, the undisclosed reason for starting this entire mess. Rin wasn't going to leave them behind, not after she'd gotten to know them a bit and seen their brightest smiles and glimpsed at their inner darkness.

Rin knew most people would think her annoying, overly stubborn and persistent, maybe unwanted, but she couldn't help it. If she saw a problem she knew she had the power to fix, Rin was going to abuse that power. Even if it was at the world's expense.

"I'm not leaving," Rin finally declared to the perturbed expression on Mikuo's face, "not until I apologize to Oliver and become friends with everyone."

Mikuo just stared. And maybe stared some more before deadpanning, "You're weird."

"I know, Tianyi already mentioned it," Rin replied with a small laugh. "I just don't like leaving people behind to deal with their problems alone, including whatever it is you have against your sister."

"I don't have anything against my sister," Mikuo meekly protested, knowing his lie wouldn't do much to save him. He continued to stare long and hard at Rin before leaning back against the wall beside her with a sigh. "But whatever. I'm not going to force you to stay, but I'm not going to make you leave either. Actually, you're probably making my life easier since now it's also your fault for being stuck here. At least Kaito gets to yell at you too."

"Ooh, I hope not, he's pretty scary. Though when he melts into a kid he's pretty cute," Rin admitted.

"He's going to hate you for saying that," Mikuo chuckled, surprised at himself for how quickly he'd brightened up in Rin's presence. Normally he'd just sulk there, moping around about his uselessness but around Rin it was easier to cheer up. Maybe it was because she was the sun of spring. Her magical powers probably included something weird like making the people around her cheer up or something.

"I will hate you for that," Kaito's voice declared grumpily as the door opened again to reveal Kaito looking like a ten year old in oversized clothing, his scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and trailing down to his knees. "Please don't tell me I just heard someone say she's going to stay here despite her free pass to leave because she wants to make friends."

Rin felt guilty for admitting it to Kaito, who she probably had caused more trouble than she could ever repay in a lifetime, but she nodded.

Surprisingly, Kaito didn't look too angry. He simply threw his head back and groaned, "This is why I hate kids. You're all so confident about what you want."

"Says the adult who currently looks like he's ten," Mikuo retorted with a smirk, unable to resist the chance to jab at Kaito's physical appearance.

Kaito glared. "You are so lucky you're still capable of sitting next to the sun without burning up, Hatsune. Though mind you, step away from her for too far and I might just accidentally kill you."

Kaito stormed away muttering under his breath, disappearing down the hallway, probably to report on this new development to get the others off his case.

Mikuo pursed his lips before throwing Rin a nervous albeit charming smile. "Mind if I sleep in this room tonight then? I really don't want to get killed."

"No, of course I don't mind. This is your room after all," Rin replied with a brighter smile to hide the fluttering in her chest at the sight of Mikuo's smile.

"Oh, uh, right. Forgot about that," Mikuo shakily replied, turning his head the other way to hide the blush tinging his cheeks. Since when did he start feeling flustered over girls smiling?

A really pretty smile at that.

An awkward silence quickly settled round the two, each lost in their own thoughts about why that one particular smile they'd shared had been so darn attractive.

Meanwhile, the nonexistent rulers of the Seasonal Alliance (aka me) just sighed.

This was going to be one long day.

 


	11. Chapter 11

_April 14 – 3:30 p.m. – Seasonal Alliance Headquarters – Recreation Room_

Miku was busy pacing in the recreation room, a pool of water having formed where she'd been mindlessly walking about, lost in thought. The leaders had just had another brief meeting about the situation, which was stabilized but still dangerous. It might've been cold, but nothing nasty that would throw off the balance of nature. The only thing that worried Miku was Kaito's beleaguered report that Rin had joined in the chaos too, refusing to come back until she made some friends, whatever that was about. It was a very typical thing for Rin to do, trying to make friends even with the world at stake. Not something Miku appreciated much, but at least that meant that Rin would hopefully come back once she befriended everyone, which had never been difficult for the blonde anyways, though then again, this was Team Winter they were talking about. Other than that, they were doing okay managing the weather without Rin for the time being, so the leaders decided to let the sun be.

Besides, Kaito deserved a little break from scrutiny now that the situation was being exasperated by the victim of all people. As much as Miku tended to argue with Kaito, she had to admit he'd done a good job keeping his temper in check, keeping the snow to a minimum, enough to change to rain except for that one time it'd been too early in the morning for anyone to do anything. He was obviously trying to get Rin back, and getting tired as a result of it, so Miku gave Kaito a free pass today.

Didn't mean she wasn't stressed.

"This is probably the only thing I can't stand about Rin," Miku groaned. "Why does she always have to go about making everyone into her friends?"

"That's just how she is," Luka sighed, watching Miku continue to make a mess with her pacing. "I'm glad she's enjoying herself but it's so like her to forget about her duties when she has people to get to know and help."

"Exactly!" Miku exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air as she circled around in the same spot, oblivious to her shoes splashing around in the puddles at her feet. "I know I'm always complaining about how difficult Len can be sometimes, but times like these make me wonder if Rin's the real troublemaker."

"Miku, please, you're going to get all wet if you keep this up," Luka said, grabbing Miku by the hand and sitting her down. "I know you're worried and frustrated but making a mess isn't going to help."

Miku only now realized what a mess she'd made. With a tired sigh, she shot Luka a grateful smile and apologized, "Sorry. Even after all these years I guess I'm still don't have a good grip on my emotions."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Luka replied with a warm smile, sitting down next to her. Miku leaned into Luka's warm body with a contented smile. Maybe it was a side effect of her job, maybe it wasn't, but Luka always managed to pass such a satisfying warmth to the people she came in contact. Miku could never not feel calm around Luka, and she was glad to have Luka around during this stressful period.

"Moving the topic away from Rin," Luka suddenly said as she wrapped an arm around Miku's shoulders, "how's Len holding up? I see him around sometimes, but obviously he isn't as friendly around me as he is with you."

"Oh, he's … how he usually is when Rin's not around, but like a bajillion times worse," Miku groaned. "He's doing okay in front of the others of course, but every time I catch him alone he's just muttering about how dead he feels and how terrible of a person he is and how much he hates himself and … I just don't like seeing him like that. He's always relied on Rin so much but I just hate how he thinks he isn't worth anything if he can't be as cheerful as her."

"Well…" Luka hated that she had to say it, but she did anyways. "I mean, Len represents the sun after all. I don't see how he's not supposed to try and be cheerful."

"I mean sure, that helps, but there's other emotions that represent warmth and heat right? Like anger, or passion, or love and stuff," Miku argued. "He loves his sister plenty enough, and to be honest I feel like that's really what's driven him, more than that stupid mask he puts up. I think he's fine the way he is. I just wish he believed that too."

"You have a point, but in the end I think it's up to Len as to whether or not he'll listen to you. I'm sure you've done all you can though," Luka comforted, running a hand through Miku's long turquoise hair. "Besides, he seems to be getting along with Piko and V-Flower for the time being, don't you think?"

"I thought so too," Miku commented with a frown, "but the last time I mentioned Piko, Len called him a hopeless emotional train wreck or something. I don't know what he suddenly has against Piko, but you're right, at least he doesn't seem to mind V-Flower's company. I'm not completely sure why though."

"From what I can tell, I don't think V-Flower ever had a very good impression of Len," Luka lightly laughed, remembering the occasional glares the girl had shot Len during work. "Maybe that's why. He doesn't even have to bother impressing her since her attitude probably wouldn't change if he became cheerful again."

"I sure hope so. Anything that might humor Len is a blessing nowadays," Miku groaned.

"Don't worry too much about it, Miku," Luka said. "We'll get Rin back soon, and once Len's feeling better, then we can work on getting him to act more like himself."

"I hope so," Miku sighed. The two of them sat there in silence for a long time before Miku suddenly remarked, "Luka, I wonder why it's so easy to talk to you."

"Hmm, I wonder why too," Luka hummed. Tilting her head to staring into Miku's bright blue eyes, she teased, "Maybe it's because you love me so much."

Miku rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Oh come on, it's obviously because you love me."

"That I do," Luka conceded with a laugh as she kissed Miku's forehead. "I love you more than anything in the world."

Miku smiled up at Luka. She whispered, "I love you too."

They leaned in for a kiss, the cool touch of Miku's lips brushing against the warmth of Luka's. It was a gentle kiss, a moment that felt like an eternity, free from the chaos of the past two weeks. Miku relished moments like these more than anything else. If she could, she'd spend an eternity like this with Luka, to be content and confident enough to love. Oh, how happy that would make her.

The sound of the door opening snapped them back to their senses. They whipped around, jumping out of their seats to find an embarrassed Piko standing in the doorway, staring back at them with his hand still frozen on the doorknob.

"Oh, uh, sorry for the disturbance," Piko hastily stammered, blushing harder than he should've for a teen like him. He made a move to shut the door again, but Miku was quicker, dragging the petite boy into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" Miku hissed threateningly, glaring into Piko's glistening eyes.

"Miku, calm down. There's no need to be so agitated," Luka sighed, gently tugging the two apart before shooting Piko an apologetic gaze. "Sorry about Miku. We would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about what you just saw."

Piko was quiet for a long time before he simply said, "I won't say anything, but can I ask why you don't want anyone to know? I'm sure no one will judge."

Luka sighed. "True, no one really cares about who falls in love with who, but—well, technically team leaders aren't supposed to date each other. Something about threatening the balance of the seasons if two leaders suddenly tried to do something bad together."

Piko stared. "But Kaito and Meiko, they—"

"They're special," Luka cut in with a longer sigh. "Kaito's been attached to Meiko ever since he started his job here and since Meiko helps make Kaito an easier person to deal with, we made an exception. Plus, Meiko's smart. She knows better than to take Kaito's side in things and she's good at putting her foot down and getting Kaito to cooperate so we don't have to worry about Autumn and Winter suddenly collaborating to take over the world."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the same could apply for you two?" Piko said.

"Not exactly," Luka replied. "Miku fights with Kaito enough already, and Meiko does take Kaito's side more often when that happens. I've been trying my best to be neutral but if people knew about Miku and me, well, I suppose there'd be worry that some tensions might rise between the two warmer seasons and the two cooler seasons."

"Like a fight to plunge the world into eternal warmth or eternal cold? No one's going to think that," Piko pointed out. "Besides, parts of the world are kind already like that."

Luka stared at Miku and pointedly said, "Well, I'm out of excuses. Want to provide yours?"

Miku glared harder at Piko, who couldn't help but take a step back as the water at Miku's feet began to boil with rage. Finally, Miku lowered her head and muttered, "It's embarrassing."

"How?"

"I just—I—romance—I'm just not supposed to be a romantic person and I've spent years making fun of couples and especially that idiot Kaito so how can I just suddenly come out and say that I've got a girlfriend!" Miku said in a rush, fumbling over her last few words as her cheeks burned redder than should've been possible.

"Would it have been fine if Luka were a guy then?" Piko asked, an eyebrow raised and clearly still not buying it.

Miku rolled her eyes. "No that'd be worse. Can you imagine what Kaito would say? 'Oh, look at you, getting an adorable boyfriend to rely on!'" Miku made a face and gagged. "Ugh, I really can't stand that ice cream idiot."

Piko just raised an eyebrow and turned to his leader, who was giving him a tired smile. He summarized, "So Miku just doesn't want to give Kaito a chance to make fun of her."

"That's about right," Luka chuckled as Miku flared up at the statement. "It's stupid but I do hope you'll respect our wishes."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't say anything," Piko reassured the two. He turned to leave but paused for the briefest moment in the doorway, casually throwing his words out. "I've got my own share of secrets to keep after all."

The door shut quietly behind the silver haired boy, leaving the couple to stare after him. Finally, Miku asked, "What was that about?"

Luka simply shook her head sadly. She couldn't provide an answer to the heavy secrets Piko was hiding in his heart. That was one Piko would have to find on his own.


	12. Chapter 12

_April 16 — 1:30 p.m. — Summer Base_

For the first time since forever, Len was finally back at the Summer Base. Going to the Spring Base was pointless now that Rin was gone, and the more Len went, the worse he felt, and not just because he would be reminded of Rin’s absence when he was there. 

He’d left work early, too tired to even try and motivate himself to be positive, and decided going to the Summer Base might help. He’d probably get in trouble for just sneaking off without letting anyone know, but he didn’t care anymore. 

The Summer Base was a warm, almost sweltering home that had plenty of sunshine and nature themes decorated throughout. He hadn’t really missed living in the Summer Base; any home without Rin was pointless, but with Rin nowhere to be found, Len supposed he did like the Summer Base more than the Spring Base. As gloomy as he was, he was part of Team Summer: he felt better in the sweltering summer heat than the lukewarm weather of spring. 

Len had been taking a nap on the sofa when the front door opened and clicked shut, waking him up. He didn’t bother to even open his eyes, doubting he’d be noticed, until a shadow loomed over him and spoke. 

“Well, well, look who finally decided to come home.”

Len opened one eye to find Lily peering down at him with a smile, her long blonde hair tucked behind her ears and dangling past her shoulders. He simply closed his eyes again and turned towards the back of the couch, lazily drawling out, “Leave me alone, Lily.”

“Oh Len, you’re so cold despite being the sun,” Lily laughed, reaching down to ruffle Len’s hair. “It’s nice to see you here though. Things get boring when you’re not around.”

“I don’t see how I make things interesting by just being around,” Len grumbled, lightly brushing Lily’s hand away from his head, opening his eyes lazily again to stare up at her.

“It just feels better to see the whole gang together when it’s not summertime,” Lily simply laughed, leaning against the couch as she continued to pester Len’s hair. Len tried to swat at Lily’s hand again but quickly gave up, too tired to protest. That and because Lily was a good head petter. Len guessed that if he died and were reincarnated as a cat or dog, he’d want to be Lily’s pet for that very reason. After Lily had had her fun, she stepped back and stretched her arms.

“Well, I’m going to go make lunch then. You want anything?” Lily asked.

Len shook his head and mumbled, “Just want sleep.”

“All right then. By the way, just warning you, but I passed Miku in Headquarters when I left. She’s been looking for you and she looked pretty pissed,” Lily warned before disappearing into the kitchen.

Len just curled up even more on the couch at the mention of an angry Miku. He’d expected it, but he really didn’t want to be bothered with that right now. Relishing the lingering silence that was bound to be broken any moment, Len quietly dozed off. He’d probably gotten at least a few minutes of sleep in before the front door slammed wide open.

“LEN KAGAMINE! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE SO COME OUT RIGHT NOW!”

Len groaned inwardly and tiredly sat up, peeking out from behind the top of the couch. Miku had probably spotted his unruly blond hair poking out first though, so she was looming threateningly over Len by the time he propped his chin up on the top of the couch and rolled his eyes up at her. He said flatly, “What?”

“You know exactly what,” Miku hissed. “Who said you could leave in the middle of the day?”

“I did,” Len retorted.

“You don’t count!” Miku snapped back. “How could you just leave like that? You know how important your role is right now! What if something unexpected happened and you weren’t there to stop it?”

“Maybe you could stop it then,” Len grumbled.

“And if it suddenly snowed because of that ice cream idiot?”

Len glared back at Miku’s furious look. He hissed, “Maybe try harder in getting Rin back then.”

Miku rolled her eyes. “You know we’re doing all we can to get her back. It’s not our fault she doesn’t want to come back either.”

“You’re not doing enough then. Tell her I’ll die if she doesn’t come back soon.”

Miku raised an eyebrow. “Everyone knows you won’t actually die if Rin doesn’t come back for a while, so you should know it wouldn’t work on Rin of all people. So stop moping around and actually try for once, please?”

Len knew Miku meant well, but he couldn’t help it. A twinge of annoyance snagging his heart, he snapped, “You’re just saying that because you’re all nice and comfortable with Luka around to pamper you.”

“Luka has nothing to do with this.”

“Really? You think you’d be fine if your girlfriend wasn’t around to calm you down all the time?” Len jeered. “Don’t be stupid Miku. Luka’s the only reason you’re here acting all stuck up and pretentious. Maybe I should just go burn your girlfriend to death and see if you still want to work.”

“This isn’t a joke, Len,” Miku hissed, her temper flaring.

“I’m not joking,” Len growled back. “It’s not my fault you can’t understand how I feel even though you’re supposed to be my _friend_ , but I guess having a lover makes friends unimportant.”

“Len, I know you’re angry that Rin isn’t make yet, and so am I, but don’t bring Luka into this,” Miku said. “You’re right, maybe I haven’t been considerate enough as your friend, and I promise I’ll try get everything back to normal for you, but you have to promise me you’ll do your best to do your share too.”

“I am doing my best,” Len grumbled.

“Really? Leaving half way through the day without telling anyone is your best?”

“I was tired.”

“Now you’re just making excuses,” Miku said, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. “Everyone’s tired, but at least they’re still trying to cooperate.”

“I need Rin around to work,” Len shot back quietly, rolling his eyes.

“And you know what that still sounds like? An excuse! An excuse to just be lazy and not contribute while everyone else is doing the best they can to cope with this situation until everything gets back to normal! You haven’t even bothered to try your best! All you’ve been doing is complaining nonstop because you have some stupid dependence on your sister who isn’t even going to bother to come back herself because she knows better than to take you seriously!” Miku hissed.

It was Len’s turn to glare, his tone vicious as he hissed, “Oh really, you think I’m making all this up? You think I’m not trying my best to ignore the fact I literally can’t stand being apart from Rin?”

“I’ve seen you work perfectly fine without your sister around,” Miku shot back. 

“That’s only because she’s never been away for so long! Now I don’t even know when I will be able to see Rin again, or if I’ll ever see her again because she—”

Len broke off, not willing to say anything for fear that just saying the words would make it come true. Len had seen the way Rin had looked at Mikuo before, he wasn’t stupid. What if Rin was staying in the Winter Base because she really just wanted more time with that boy? Or if she ended staying forever? Or even worse, if they… became a thing.

Miku’s voice broke Len out of his horrified thoughts. She glared down at him, too angry to even notice that Len’s attention had wandered off. She hissed, “Those are still just excuses! You’re just scared of even trying to work without Rin around because once you realize you’ll be fine, you won’t have an excuse to not work hard if Rin’s not around and give her one less reason to stick around. You’re just a pathetic excuse of a brother who’s scared to even see what life might be like without Rin!”

Len’s heart burned at the accusation. Him, scared of living without Rin constantly by his side? He didn’t need Miku to tell him that to know it, but that wasn’t it. He was scared of living without Rin but that wasn’t the point. Rin disappearing from his side wasn’t just a scary threat that left his future in unforeseen waters. No, Rin disappearing from his side was a threat to his present too. Rin kept the darkness from his past from catching up to him, kept him from relapsing into that gloomy state. She wasn’t just the guide to his future; she was his future, and Miku of all people should’ve known that. But she was too busy caught up in her so called stress and she’d abandoned Len for love.

For the first time in a long time, Len felt truly lonely, and when he was lonely, it became so much easier to just hate everything and everyone around him. 

“Fine. FINE!” Len yelled, slamming his hands down against the couch as he leapt to his feet, burning two holes into the back of the seat. His normally blue eyes ablaze with a fiery red rage, he snarled, “You think I’m not working hard enough? You think I’m just making excuses to see Rin? Fine then! I’ll work harder, harder than I’ve ever worked even when Rin was around. I’ll do all the stupid little things you want me to do because you’re not willing to get Rin back anytime soon. Sure I might be exaggerating _a little_ bit but I’m telling you this right now. If you don’t try harder and get my sister back from that stupid brother of yours, I’ll burn myself out if it’s the last thing I do.”

Len stormed off, not even bothering to open the front door as he kicked it down and stomped out of the Summer Base, leaving a smoldering path behind him as he went. Miku watched him go with a furious glare before she finally let out a long sigh. With a wave of her hand, she doused the embers Len had left in his wake. Now that Len was gone, Miku felt a little guilty for lashing out at Len like that, but she knew his forced gloominess had to stop. She’d seen Len be perfectly fine without his sister. His dependence on her was mostly just in his head, a trap he’d set himself and couldn’t get out of. At this point, Miku didn’t care if she had to use anger or force to get Len to snap out of it and see reality as it was for himself. Len needed to realize his dependence on Rin was just his fear of reaching out to others, and Miku wasn’t going to tolerate it any longer.

“I don’t think that was the greatest course of action,” Lily suddenly commented, poking her head in from the kitchen. She’d heard the entire argument of course, but she knew better than to interrupt. Anyone trying to interrupt an angry Miku _and_ an angry Len was just looking for a death wish. 

Miku sighed, going over to the kitchen to plop down in a seat by the dining table, watching as Lily continued to cook. She said, “I know, it’s just … I know he’s capable of working properly without Rin around. It’s just, ever since he reunited with Rin, he’s just had some complex about needing her around to be happy and functional, and I just don’t know how to get him out of it. I don’t even know why he’s like that and I’m supposed to be his friend.”

“Let him deal with it on his own terms then,” Lily replied. “Give him time to acknowledge it himself rather than trying to make him come out of his shell. Knowing Len, anything you do to drag him out of his comfort zone only pushes him further inside.”

“I know,” Miku sighed. “I just wish there were an easier way to help Len cheer up and be himself.”

“I think we’ve already established that Len being himself isn’t being cheerful,” Lily laughed, setting some food in front of Miku. “Besides, you got him to agree to work. Take that as an improvement.”

“Thanks Lily,” Miku smiled, waiting for the taller girl to sit down before they started a late lunch in silence. “I hope it’s a step in the right direction. If not, I really hope nothing bad happens.”

 


End file.
